The Distance: Family Dynamics
by margie311
Summary: Second sequel to The Distance: Sam and Andy go to Sarah and Cooper's for an early Christmas visit.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: Sorry for the delay on this. I've been having some things distracting me lately. However, this thing is finally complete. So, at least you won't have to wait long for the updates. One thing: the Christmas party is not at the Penny, mainly because I just wanted it somewhere _else. _ **

**As far as the plot goes: This is a sequel to The Distance and A Weekend Away. If you haven't read them, you're not going to recognize some of the characters, or some of the plot lines (i.e. the whole running thing). If that's okay with you, rock on. If not, the other stories are posted. Feel free to catch up. This sequel takes place in mid-December.**

**Oh, and prepare yourself for a certain amount of ridiculousness. This was written as a Christmas present to cocobean2206. She had a few things she wanted to see, and I had a few things I couldn't bear to leave out. So, prepare yourself :)**

**Also, sorry for the liberal use of the line breaks. For some reason this site is being a pain and not letting me use stars or anything else to separate paragraphs.**

* * *

><p>Andy bent over the sink and peered into the mirror, putting the final touches on her eyeliner. A little shimmer, and a coat of mascara came after. Not usually one to linger overlong, she figured that since it was a holiday, she could put in a little extra effort. And if she happened to knock Sam's socks off, that would just be a bonus. She'd taken the time to curl her hair, just a little, creating loose waves that cascaded down her back. She pressed her lips together, and then used her little finger to wipe away a tiny smear of lipstick.<p>

Then she pulled her robe tight around her and exited the bathroom, stepping across the hall to the bedroom. As she passed through, she glanced down the hall, making sure Sam was safely ensconced in the living room, waiting for her.

"Are you almost ready?" he called. She could picture him, looking at his watch, clearly irritated. And she smirked.

"I'll be out in a few minutes," she replied as she closed the door behind her.

He checked the time. "That's what you said fifteen minutes ago," he muttered.

* * *

><p>Andy stood in front of the mirror and dropped the robe. She and Traci had taken a trip to the lingerie store a few days before. The bra and panty set she'd gotten was lavender, overlaid with sheer black lace. It made her skin look tan, made her breasts look fantastic. It wasn't really her usual thing. Especially since she'd started training, her tastes had run to breathable cotton and Lycra, with the occasional piece of satin. But it was Christmas, after all. Or at least, it would be soon. She turned one way and then the other. Traci was right. She should have gotten the garter belt. Maybe next time.<p>

She reached into the closet and pulled out her dress. She put it on and then did another turn in front of the mirror. Knowing Sam's preference for the color on her, she'd bought it in deep violet, cut to mid-thigh. Comfortably snug around her hips and torso, the neckline hung in loose folds, letting only a small amount of cleavage show, but in the back, the folds fell low, ending just above the band of her bra. She reached into the closet for the new pair of stilettos and pulled the straps over her heels. Finished. Giving herself one last look, Andy tucked her bag under her elbow and shut off the light as she left the room.

As she walked into the living room, Sam stood and they looked at each other, eyes moving quickly over bodies covered in new clothes. She'd never seen him dressed up before, not like this. When they went out, he made an effort, but she knew that he was more comfortable in jeans, and she didn't really care. But tonight, she might have pushed a little. And he'd certainly delivered.

Unsurprisingly, he wore black; simple black pants, black button-down shirt open at the throat, leather jacket tucked under his arm. It was very basic, but he was groomed, and his clothes were fitted close to his body. As she stepped into his arms, she inhaled the scent of him; clean, with a touch of the cologne she loved. She pressed her nose against his neck and he laughed a little as her breath tickled his skin.

"I don't know why they didn't just do this at the Penny," he said as his hands stroked down her back, fingers sliding under the low-hanging fabric. "I hate this shit."

She pulled away. "C'mon. It gives us an excuse to dress up. Besides, I kind of like you like this." She gripped the collar of his shirt lightly, pulling his mouth to hers.

"Yeah, well maybe we could do this more often, as long as we get to stay home," he murmured as his fingers made contact with the band of her bra and she pulled away as he leaned over her shoulder to look. "Is that new? It felt different."

"Don't you worry about it." She smirked and slapped his hands away as he tried to pull her back into him. "We've got to leave." She turned and snagged her bag off the floor where it had fallen and walked into the kitchen. He followed her, helping her on with her coat, and then they walked out the door.

* * *

><p>He couldn't keep his eyes off her. If they hadn't already promised to show, he would have insisted that they skip the station's Christmas party altogether. The white shirts had rented out the reception room of a restaurant and people were milling around talking; about the decorations, the large tree in the corner stacked with presents, the huge spread of food. Andy was over there now, piling up a plate with finger foods and cookies. She stacked the plate on top of her glass of wine and balanced it as she turned to the man who'd stepped up to her; greeted her. As they spoke, her eyes went over his shoulder to Sam. Unblinking, the stare was long, her eyes were dark and when her lips parted, when her tongue flicked out over them and she slowly ran the lower one through her teeth, he felt his body temperature rise a degree. Then she looked away.<p>

Sam took a sip of his scotch and made eye contact with Jerry who was going on about something. Truthfully, he hadn't been paying attention for the last five minutes. He'd been stuck in this circle, listening to work gossip and everyone's holiday plans while Andy was freely walking around, talking to her friends. Noelle nudged him and he glanced over.

"What?"

"Take it easy, Casanova. It's still early." He smirked and turned back to the group, determined to at least _pretend_ he was listening. Finally, he felt her hand on his waist, her arm circling around him as she stepped up next to him. He looked over. And then down. Her legs looked a mile long. In those heels, she stood as tall as him, and as a result, her lips were nearer. He leaned over and kissed her just once, because he couldn't stand not to. The soft fabric of her dress did nothing to mask the heat of her skin under his hand and he held her to his side as they both turned back to the conversation.

Things had been going well for them the past nine months. Better than that, actually. They had their moments, to be sure. Days that stretched on forever when they couldn't stand the sight of each other. But even on those days, he was so in love with her that he couldn't see straight. So they'd scream at each other, ignore each other, and then maybe yell a little more, until one of them broke down and apologized. He was only a little embarrassed to admit that it was usually him; whether it was actually his fault or not. Because as interesting and stimulating as those fights were, things were even better when they were getting along. For instance, this last week had been particularly good. They'd just started preparing for the spring marathon.

This time, he'd agreed to run with her, but he'd made one request. He wanted to go somewhere, to take a vacation. So, instead of buying each other Christmas presents, they were planning a trip; going all out. They had it narrowed down to three places, and were constantly digging through brochures and registration materials, trying to make a decision. But in truth, he was just glad to be training again, vacation or not. They'd been continuing their short runs throughout the year, three or five miles a few times a week, and they'd just started stepping it up; increasing speed, intervals, fartleks. He'd almost forgotten how good she looked after a hard run, how exhilarated, how alive. Twice this week, they hadn't even made it back to the bedroom before they'd stripped their damp clothing away, and he'd settled his mouth against the salty skin of her shoulder.

Suddenly, he felt her fingers scratch lightly at his shirt, right over his hip. He glanced at her, but she was pointedly looking away; laughing at something Shaw was saying. Sam's eyes went to the clock over the doorway. Nine-thirty. They were committed for the next two hours, at the least. There was no way he would make it. Sam put his hand in his pocket and ran his fingers over the box he'd been carrying around for the last two months. He had plans for later. The sooner they could get home, the better, as far as he was concerned.

As Andy put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in, mouth grazing his ear, he turned his head, bumping his nose against hers. "I'm going to find Traci," she whispered as she pushed her plate into his hand. His grasp on her hip tightened and he pressed his lip to her neck, right under her jaw.

"Hurry back," he answered quietly and his eyes burned into hers. "I'm ready to leave whenever you are."

Her lips curved into a smile. "We've only been here an hour."

"An hour too long, if you ask me."

Andy bit her lip and glanced around at the other people. They were making an effort to ignore them, talking amongst themselves. She put her hand up to his face, kissed him quick, and then used her thumb to wipe away a trace of lipstick from the corner of his lip. "Meet me under the mistletoe later, and we'll talk." She walked away and as he inhaled deeply through his nose, he took a sip of his drink. His eyes followed her hips, watching them sway gently all the way to the other side of the room.

She joined Chris and Dov at the bar and as they welcomed her, she signaled to the bartender for a round of shots. She called to Traci and Gail over by the Christmas tree and they wandered over. After passing them around, the five of them tossed the shots back, and Andy shuddered as the liquor burned all the way down. And then she felt an arm tighten around her waist. As Sam's mouth found her neck, she saw her friends disband and move to other parts of the room. She turned under his arm.

"Remember when I said 'later'?" she asked with a grin. He'd pulled her against him, his arm snug around her hips.

"You also said 'mistletoe,' but I didn't want to limit myself." His teeth flashed and then moved to her earlobe.

She pulled away a little. "You chased away my friends. And people are watching."

He glanced around. "Your friends don't care. And people are watching because they're jealous."

"I suppose it's a little insensitive of us to make them jealous," she said, her tone playfully sedate as she smiled at him.

He laughed quietly. "I don't really care." He continued touching her, running his hands lightly over her back as he pressed his face into her hair. "God, you smell good."

"I smell like I always do. Mmmm... Keep doing that," she said, arching against him as his fingers rubbed at her lower back.

He complied for a few more moments and then pulled away slightly. "If you really feel bad about making them jealous, we could take this somewhere else." Her hands rose to his chest and she fingered the button below his throat. When her eyes rose to his, he had to catch his breath. Her eyes were dark, heavy-lidded, and they had a gleam to them he usually only saw in the bedroom. He'd been trying to seduce her, to tease her, but whenever she looked at him like that, he quickly transformed from predator to prey. And she knew it.

"I think that would be the considerate thing to do." She held her hand up and as the corner of his mouth turned up, he took it. As they walked through the full room to the exit, she leaned over. "Look, I know we made a deal. You know, Hawaii and everything? But I bought something for you the other day. Sort of an early Christmas present."

"We haven't agreed on Hawaii," he reminded her, as he pulled her into the coatroom and they grabbed their belongings. He helped her on with her wool coat and then put his jacket on and put his arm around her shoulder. "So, am I gonna like it? This present?"

The smile on her mouth made him pause a little as he pushed open the door and let her walk through. She looked at him over her shoulder and held her hand out. He tucked it into the crook of his arm and leaned over to press his mouth against hers.

"I think so. Want a sneak peek?" she asked with a devilish smile as she tugged the neck of her dress over, giving him a look at the lacy edge.

He shrugged nonchalantly, though inside, his blood was racing, heating his skin until he felt feverish. "I can wait until Christmas," he bluffed. She stopped in her tracks and he grinned, pulling her against him as he hustled them both to the truck. "I've got incredible willpower." He handed her up into the seat.

"No, you don't." They grinned at each other as he closed the door firmly. She watched him circle around the front of the truck and when he got in to the driver's seat, she continued to look at him.

"Are you seriously telling me that you don't want to unwrap this?" she asked, eyebrows raised. He looked over. Her coat was open, her legs were crossed and the neckline of the dress had fallen ever so slightly, giving him a glimpse of the curve of her breast and a strip of black lace. Her hair was tangled from the wind, and snowflakes were melting in it, making it stick to her skin. And as she dragged her lower lip through her teeth, wetting it, he reached for her.

He lost his hands in her hair as he pulled her to him, dragging her over the console until she was resting heavily on one of his thighs. Smiling against his lips, her hand cupped the back of his neck and she held him to her as his tongue stroked against hers. He was making a noise, a low growl, deep in his throat and as his hand slid down under her coat, into her dress, she pulled back.

His eyes met hers and then his hand slid into her bra. As his thumb moved over her nipple, he watched her lips part and she drew in a small breath. He stroked over it again and her eyes closed briefly. "I like that face you make," he whispered quietly, his voice ragged as he felt her hand high on his thigh. Her eyes opened and a breath escaped. "When I do this." He did it one last time. Her breath was unsteady and when she leaned in to kiss him, to crush her lips to his, he took her face in his hands, slowing it down. "Let's go home," he said against her, and she nodded.

She sat back in her seat, buckling her belt with shaky hands. Amazing that he could do that to her; that quick, without even trying. Her skin was flushed. And hot. She cracked the window and flapped the lapels of her coat, shaking her head when he grinned.

* * *

><p>They walked in the door and she tossed her purse and phone onto the table. The room was dark, lit only by the single small bulb over the stove. It cast shadows around the room, and threw a warm glow onto everything it touched. Sam came in behind her, and as he put his hands on her, she pushed out a loud breath. He pressed up against her back and his hands moved up from her hips to her breasts, cupping them, pressing them through her dress. His mouth sank onto her neck, slid down to her shoulder and he tugged the thick strap down over it. She reached up, dragged her hair around to give him better access and as her head turned, his mouth claimed hers. He plunged his tongue in against hers, and his hands moved down, clutched in the fabric of her dress, yanking it up.<p>

"Wait," she said, and his hands stilled. She pulled away, grinning and weaving when his mouth moved towards hers again. "Your present." She pushed him back until he hit the counter and then stepped away.

His eyelids lowered and as his mouth opened in a wide grin, she reached up and started pulling her dress down. The straps first, down over her shoulders; she removed it from her arms. As the bra came into view, his smile disappeared and was replaced by something else. Hunger. His eyes were hard, focused, and his hands were clenching, itching to feel her. She turned slightly, and worked the fabric down over her stomach, lower, to her hips. Her navel came into view, and then more of the same soft skin. Finally, the lacy edge of her panties peeked out and as the dress slid lower, pooled at her feet, he moved forward. She stepped out of the dress, still wearing the heels and he reached out to touch her.

He traced his fingers down over the slope of her breast, then over the bra, feeling the smoothness of the lavender satin underneath, and the rough pattern of the lace overlaying it.

"Do you like it?" she asked, a smile in her voice. His eyes rose to hers, and the intensity of his gaze took her breath away.

"I don't think that 'like' is the word, exactly," he said roughly. His eyes moved down over her again and he sunk into a chair, pulling her to him. She stood between his knees and his hands moved down, over her sides, down to her waist. He tightened his fingers around her hips and bent his head to her navel. Her hands sunk down, fingers sliding easily through his hair as his mouth moved across her stomach, his chin grazing the low waistband. His fingers slid into it, right over her thighs and tugged a little, dragging it down half an inch. Sam pressed his lips against the mark left by the elastic, swirling his tongue over the skin. And then he pulled it down a little lower. His breath was hot against her skin, and without meaning to, she widened her stance, and his hand stroked down over the front of the fabric.

It felt the same, smooth satin under rough lace. But it was hot and damp and as he pressed against it, he looked at her, smiling when her eyes fluttered shut.

In his pocket, his cell phone rang. Startled, her eyes snapped open.

"Don't," he said quietly. "Ignore it." The phone continued to ring and he continued to look at her, running his knuckles slowly, teasingly between her legs. Again, her eyes fell shut, and her hands fell to his shoulders, gripping, nails tightening on him through his shirt.

His phone went silent and then beeped to alert him that he had a voicemail.

Andy's mouth opened in a silent sigh and Sam pressed his lips against her skin, right between her breasts.

Andy's phone rang. It rattled on the table as it vibrated and rang loudly, irritatingly. She glanced over at it.

"Don't," he repeated, pulling back. He reached up and put his hand on her face, turning it back to him. "Leave it."

"They're calling both of us. Maybe it's important," she whispered breathlessly, staring at him under lowered lids.

He laughed quietly. "I guarantee, right now, there is nothing more important than this." He pulled her forward. She sat down on his knees, facing him, and as his arms went around her, he slanted his mouth across hers. He was making that sound again. That low guttural sound. It drove through her, and she felt a shudder run through her body as her chilled limbs pressed against him, warming everywhere they touched.

His phone rang again, and this time he stopped. He pulled his mouth from hers and taking a deep breath, he tilted his forehead against her shoulder. "They're not going to stop, are they?"

She shook her head. "Probably not."

Cursing, he pulled it out of his pocket. "What?" he snapped.

His hand had been gripping, stroking the skin of her waist, and now it froze and her brows drew together. "What is it?" she whispered.

His eyes went to hers. "We're leaving right now," he said into the phone, and snapped it shut. His chest rose as he drew in a deep breath and then he put his hands deep into her hair and pulled her forward, kissing her firmly. And then, before she could deepen it, he pushed her up, back onto her feet. She opened her mouth in protest and he stood up. "Sarah's in labor."

* * *

><p>They'd been ready for a month. She'd come home from the store and found Sam elbow deep in the laundry basket, pulling out a random assortment of clothing and throwing it into a couple of spare duffels. Apparently, he'd been on the phone with Cooper and the two of them had worked each other into a panicked frenzy and now Sam felt like he had to be <em>prepared<em>.

For a fleeting moment, Andy had been amused. And then she'd felt a bone-deep anxiety when she wondered what he'd be like before the birth of his own children. Of _their_ children. Marriage, sure. She could do marriage. Hell, they were practically there already. But babies? They'd talked about it, of course. Random mentions, "what if" scenarios, but nothing serious. Nothing that mentally zapped her right into the future, like this.

She'd left him there and gone for a quick run around the neighborhood, pushing faster and faster until the only thing running through her mind had been the cold air burning the back of her throat and the aching in her thighs. Since then, the thought had been back. Numerous times, multiple times a week. But each time, the panic was a little less. She wouldn't say that she'd exactly warmed to the idea, but for sure, it wasn't terrifying like it had been that first day. She certainly wasn't planning anything, but she'd pretty much decided that if it happened, it happened. They'd deal with it if and when the time came.

They each put a bag over their shoulders and Sam grabbed the envelope with their trip plans off the table and then pointed to the two giant paper sacks full of presents.

"There." She shot him an irritated look but grabbed them. "Running shoes," he said distractedly, gesturing at them.

"I'm not a pack mule," she snapped, instantly regretting it. His nervousness was starting to get to her. He'd gone from completely cool, sexy, turning her to jelly, to this frantic, flustered nut job in the space of five minutes. When they'd changed out of their dress clothes, he'd emptied a whole drawer trying to find his black T-shirt. He had five black T-shirts, but he was looking for a specific one. God only knew why.

His eyes flew to hers, annoyed but apologetic and he went over and retrieved both pairs himself. And then they packed up the truck and within twenty minutes were speeding away from the city.

Sam cranked the radio off, driving in silence like he did when he was stressed; one hand on the wheel and the other tapping restlessly against his thigh as he pressed the gas a little harder. She reached over and grabbed his hand and he looked at her.

"It's okay to be nervous," she said with a smile.

"I'm not nervous."

She laughed out loud at that, but he shot her a look and she stifled it. "Really. Sarah's fine. She's full term and her doctors aren't worried." He didn't look comforted. "Hey, think about it this way. This time tomorrow, you'll have a brand new niece or nephew."

That helped a little. That muscle in his cheek stopped flexing and he sat back in his seat, relaxing a little. He tossed a grateful glance in her direction and she smiled back, flashing her teeth.

Traffic was light, as was the weather. While snow had been long coming, it had finally started to fall the previous week. Toronto and the surrounding areas had received nearly a foot in the space of six days. It had been falling gently for most of the day, but was picking up a little as they raced down the 403. Andy put her feet up on the dash, ignoring the annoyed glance he tossed her, and then reached into the console and extracted the large envelope. She pulled out the brochures and the race descriptions. Using the flashlight function on her phone, she started reading over them to herself.

The three marathons still in the running were: the Chicago Marathon in October, the Vancouver Marathon in April, and the Kona Marathon in Hawaii in June. Registration for Chicago wouldn't start until February and had a maximum number of participants. Vancouver and Kona were already accepting applications. Each site had its own benefits. For instance, Chicago was supposedly one of the best marathons to run if one was looking to improve their time. Cory, Andy's trainer, had mentioned Vancouver as one of the best marathon/vacation experiences. Andy herself had chosen the Kona Marathon as a wild card; supposedly a challenging course, but Andy would have chosen it for the location alone. Nothing said 'vacation' like a hot beach and little umbrella drinks.

Still… She pulled out brochures from the locations that hadn't made the final cut.

"Maybe we should look at the Twin Cities race again," she said, holding up the printout she'd made from the website. "They call it the 'most scenic urban marathon.'"

"Maybe we should look at Vegas again," Sam said with a grin. "They play music along the route."

"Vegas isn't until next December." She shuffled the papers and then flipped them upside down on her lap. "Okay. This is what we're going to do." He glanced over, an eyebrow raised. "I'm just going to pick one. And whatever one I grab, that's the one we'll do."

He snorted. "You stacked the pile. I saw you."

She looked at him, taken aback. "I'm no cheater."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Pick one." Keeping her eyes on him, she reached down and picked through with her fingers, finally extracting a packet from the middle. She held it up. He barked out a laugh. "You stacked the pile."

She flipped it over and grinned as she saw the words "Kona Marathon" across the top. "Hey, fair's fair."

"You know you can't wear your iPod during that one right?"

The smile dropped off her face and she frowned, bending her head to scan the fine print. "Where does it say that?"

He smirked. "Second page." She reached up and flipped on the dome light and he squinted at the brightness. "Look, we still have a while before we get there. Just start from the beginning. Let's go over them again. The final three," he clarified, shooting her a look as he slapped off the light and then held out his hand to her.

She playfully glared at him, but slid her hand into his and slouched back down in the seat, beginning again; taking it from the top.

* * *

><p>By the time they got to St. Catharines, found the hospital, and stashed the car in the ramp, almost three hours had passed since the initial call. Andy grabbed their coats and when she swung out of the truck, Sam had already come around to her side. He shut the door behind her and took her hand as they walked quickly down the steps to the main level, and then crossed the street to walk through the entrance.<p>

They were surprised to see Cooper sitting in one of the chairs right inside the lobby. He was sucking down coffee and had his eyes trained on the doors. As soon as they walked in, he rose and strode over to them.

"You gotta get in there. I need to know what's going on." He turned and started walking down the hallway and after a shared glance, they hurried to catch up.

"And why can't _you_ go in there?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows in question.

Cooper rolled his eyes. "She kicked me out an hour ago. Every time I try to go back, she starts yelling. I swear to God, if she wasn't flat on her back in that bed, I'd drag her out to the parking lot and let her have it."

"Yeah right," Sam laughed. Andy smirked. Cooper wasn't exactly famous for his intimidating yell.

They got into the elevator and took it up a few floors. "Why'd she kick you out?" Andy asked as they stepped out onto the maternity ward. Cooper led them down the hall, talking over his shoulder.

"She says she needs space. She's got doctors and nurses all over her, but apparently,_ I'm_ the one that's pissing her off." This was probably as close to angry that Andy had ever seen Cooper. The anxiety was coming off him in waves and his eyes were a little frantic. Angry and worried.

"She'll be okay," Andy said, reaching out to tug his sleeve. He stopped short outside a room and turned to her abruptly, and she took a step back, running into Sam.

Sam nodded to the door. "Are we going in, or are we gonna stand here all day?"

Cooper snorted and waved a hand toward the door. "Be my guest."

Hiding a grin, Andy walked past him into the room and when Sarah saw her, she let out a relieved groan.

"Thank God. You're finally here."

Andy and Sam stepped up to the bed and Sarah held out her arms to hug them. Happy to see them wasn't exactly the way Andy would have described Sarah. She looked like she'd just run a race of her own. Her forehead was already slightly shiny with sweat, her hair was pulled away in a thick ponytail, but tendrils had escaped and were stuck against the skin of her neck which was flushed.

"How's it going?" Andy asked, making what she hoped was a sympathetic face as she glanced at all the equipment lined up around the head of the bed.

Sarah rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You know how all these women say that childbirth is like the most special experience of their lives, and it's a rite of passage, blah blah blah?" Andy nodded. "It's a big fat lie." She jerked her head at the nurse off to her right. "I've had so many people down there looking at my business that I feel like I should be charging." The nurse grinned as she made a few notes to Sarah's chart. "But they're going to give me my drugs any minute now, right June?"

June bobbed her eyebrows. "Any minute now," she repeated, not sounding at all like she meant it.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "She's been saying that for a half hour. Apparently I'm one of four women in labor on this floor. Every single one of them is moving faster than me. I'm going to be here for hours." She looked pleadingly at her brother. "Remind me why I thought this was a good idea?" She ran the back of her hand over her forehead.

Sam squeezed her hand and glanced over his shoulder at the door. "Are you ever going to let him back in here? He's kind of mad."

Again, she rolled her eyes. "He's not mad. He's scared."

Sam's eyebrows nearly hit his hairline. "And you think it's going to make him feel better to sit in the waiting room not knowing what's going on?"

Sarah gave him a menacing smile. "He's scared, and he's nervous, so he's hovering. Which makes _me_ nervous. And it pisses me off. And since I'm the one getting ready to turn myself inside out, I'm kind of more worried about _me_." On cue, her face tightened with pain and her hands instinctively moved down to run over her belly as a contraction began.

The last time Andy'd seen Sarah had been two months before at Thanksgiving. Even then, she'd been immensely pregnant. She was an inch or so taller than Andy, but she was slim all over, leanly muscled, and she was one of those lucky few that only gained weight in her breasts and belly during pregnancy. She'd looked like she had a bowling ball stuffed under her shirt. At the time, Andy couldn't imagine her getting any larger. But now, as her hands stroked down over the front of her stomach, Andy realized she was huge.

As the contraction passed, her hands relaxed and Sarah took a few more breaths, brushing a sweaty curl out of her eyes. There was a noise at the door and Andy turned her head to see Cooper standing at the entrance to the room, arms crossed over his chest. He had an annoyed helpless look on his face, and she turned back to Sarah and gave her a reproachful look.

"You should really let him help. It might help him relax. And that might make _you_ relax. And you'll hate yourself forever if you make him miss this." Sarah made a face. "Let him rub your back." Andy shrugged. "Keep him busy."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Fine." She glanced around them at her husband. "Get over here."

Cooper snorted. "Don't do me any favors. I'll leave if you want me to."

For a long moment, Andy thought she was going to witness an actual showdown between the two of them. Sarah's eyes were hard and Cooper was glaring back with absolutely no intention of backing down. But then finally, Sarah's face slacked and she shrugged and waved him over. "I want you to stay," she admitted grudgingly. He relaxed and gave her a smile, but as he walked up, she held up a finger. "Just don't freak out on the nurses."

"I didn't freak out on the nurses."

June snickered and everyone looked at her. "You did a little bit."

Cooper blew out an exasperated breath. "Fine. I'm sorry," he said to her. "I won't do it again."

"And when I tell you to give me a little breathing room, you need to_ literally_ take a step back. It's hot in here and I just can't stand it."

"Alright."

Sam tugged on Andy's sleeve and pulled her backwards towards the door. As Sarah and Cooper continued going over the rules of his conditional readmittance, they stepped out into the hallway.

"God, she's intense," Sam said as he rolled his shoulders.

Andy smirked. "You say that like you're surprised." She took his arm, hugging it to her side as she yawned and they walked down the hall. "Think we're going to be here all night?"

Sam disentangled himself from her grasp and wrapped his arm around her, holding her against him. "She said it would be hours. Maybe we should go find somewhere to sit down. We can check on them later."

They ended up in the waiting room around the corner. At nearly 2 AM, the place was pretty empty. There were overly cheery Christmas decorations lining the walls, along with too cute pictures of babies and pregnant women. There was also an abundance of pregnancy magazines littering the end tables. Andy glanced at them and then quickly looked away, turning her body in the uncomfortable chair. The seats were straight-backed, wooden-armed chairs, giving no opportunity for curling up, or stretching out. She shifted a few times before finally giving an exasperated gasp. She stood and as Sam watched, walked over to the wall with her coat and sank down onto the carpet, leaning her head back. She raised her eyebrows at Sam and he gave a short laugh.

"No way."

"C'mon. Come sit by me." She yawned and tried waving him over.

He shook his head and folded his arms. "I'm comfortable here."

"No, you're not. No one could be comfortable in those chairs. Come sit by me." She threw a little whine into it for good measure and spread her wool coat out over her legs and torso.

He quirked an eyebrow. "You just want someone to lean on."

"So?" she challenged. She was giving him a look. It wasn't quite a pout, but it was expectant, like he might as well just give in, because they both knew that in the end, he'd be on the floor with her.

He rolled his eyes and pushed himself up. "You're seriously annoying, you know that?"

Her mouth curved in a Cheshire cat grin. "I think you like it. Secretly, you _wish_ I'd lean on you all the time."

"Yes, I'm desperate for you to fall asleep and drool on my shoulder." But he sat down anyway and put his arm around her, letting her tuck her head under his chin. "If you soak my shirt, you're running out to the truck for a new one." He winced as she slapped his thigh, but squeezed her a little tighter. He glanced at his watch. 1:44 AM.

"Just close your eyes," Andy said quietly, taking his other hand in hers. "Just for a little while."

"Okay." He laced his fingers through hers and leaned back against the wall. "But we should go back in a while to see how they're doing." She nodded and he stroked his thumb over hers once before his eyes shut.

* * *

><p>The next time he opened them, Cooper was crouched down in front of him, hand on his shoulder, giving him a shake.<p>

"Hey, wake up." Sam blinked a couple of times and then pulled is hand out of Andy's to wipe at his eyes.

"What?"

Cooper grinned. "Come meet your niece." Sam stared at him, still half asleep, and then the words cut through the fogginess and he looked at his watch. 6:57 AM.

"Oh, man. Sorry." He shifted, pushing Andy up from his shoulder. She scrubbed at her eyes with the heel of her hand and when they opened, and she saw Cooper, she scrambled up from the floor.

"Did we miss it? Oh God," she gasped as she straightened, stiff from her shoulders to her thighs from sitting on the floor so long.

Cooper laughed, and stood, hands on his hips. "Uh, yeah. But trust me. This is the part you want to see."

They followed him back down the hall, turning down another when they reached the nurses' station. "Sarah delivered a little over hour ago, and they've already moved her to new room. I'd say you've got maybe fifteen minutes before she passes out," he finished with a laugh. He stopped outside a room, and again, waved them in. Andy stuck her hand in the antimicrobial foam dispenser, and then tapped lightly on the door as she swung it open. She poked her head in and Sarah turned her head and gave her a tired smile.

The three of them filed in quietly and Andy stepped up close to Sarah's bed. The bassinette had been pulled right up to the side so Sarah could see the baby and Andy glanced at her for permission before sitting gingerly on the edge of the bed. Sam walked around to the other side and leaned over to give Sarah a hug as Andy peered down at the baby. She was tiny and red faced, wearing a yellow-striped hat, wrinkly fingers curled into adorable fists. Sleeping soundly too, by the look of her. Sam came back around the bed and bent down a little, getting a good look at his niece.

"What'd you name her?" he asked, raising his eyes to Sarah as Cooper ignored the chair by the window and sat down on the bed next to his wife.

Sarah leaned over a little, staring down at her daughter with a smile. "Carly Katherine."

Sam smirked. "Kit will be flattered."

"Well, we thought about naming her Samantha, but we didn't want you to get a big head." Andy gave a short quiet laugh and looked back at the baby.

"Is she a Lafferty, or a Swarek-Lafferty?" Sam asked with a mischievous grin.

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "We're still discussing it. But I guess it might be easier if she and Jake had the same last name. Besides," Sarah said as she turned to look at Cooper. "Carly Katherine Swarek-Lafferty is kind of a big name for such a small baby." He grinned and kissed her twice; quick, sweet kisses and she laughed happily in her throat. "Who knows? Maybe I'll cave and we'll all finally match."

Sam cleared his throat, giving her a warning look. "Don't get all baby drunk. Cooper might never forgive you if you change your mind." Although from the way Cooper was looking at Sarah, it was a sure bet that he'd probably forgive her anything.

"Where_ is_ Jake, anyway?" Andy asked suddenly, tearing her eyes away from the baby.

Cooper raised his eyebrows at the abrupt change of subject. "We picked him up from his mom's yesterday morning, but when Sarah's water broke last night, we dropped him off at Kit's." He looked at Sarah. "Actually, I should probably go get him."

She shook her head. "You should sleep first." She ran her fingers over his forehead, then through his dark red hair, finally smoothing it with her palm. "Kit can bring him in when she comes by later." Andy looked at Cooper. He was infinitely more relaxed than the last time she'd seen him, but she had to agree with Sarah. The sleepless night had left its mark on him, creasing his face, darkening the skin under his eyes. But he didn't appear to mind in the slightest.

Cooper touched her cheek gently with his fingertips and the tilted her face up, pressing a different kind of kiss to her mouth, long and slow, and Andy looked away, eyes shooting directly to Sam. He had his eyes on her as well, and they smiled at each other.

"Maybe we should…" Andy tipped her head towards the door. "We can come back later." Sam nodded and then took out his phone and shot a quick picture of his niece.

"Oliver said Zoe wants a picture," he said quietly, shaking his head in amusement. Then he held his hand out to her and Andy slipped her fingers into his. He turned back to Sarah and Cooper. "Call you in a few hours?"

"Sounds good," Sarah said, giving them a smile and a small wave as they backed out the door.

* * *

><p>Sam pulled the truck into the driveway and looked over at Andy. It hadn't taken them long to get from the hospital to the lake house, but she was curled up in the seat, face soft with sleep. He unbuckled his belt and then reached over and stroked the back of his finger over her face. Her eyelids fluttered open.<p>

He smiled as she sat up, slightly disoriented. "We're here. You can go back to sleep in a few minutes." She nodded, still a little foggy, then opened the door, and was shocked awake by a sudden blast of cold wind. Quickly, they grabbed the bags from the back seat and hauled everything inside. The sun was already up, flooding the house with light. They went in through the mud room, past the kitchen and into the dining room. The bags went on the floor in front of the mantle and as Andy dropped her coat and wandered back to the bathroom, Sam closed the drapes over the picture window, shutting out as much of the sun as he could.

Andy walked back out and watched him, yawning. "What about the porch?"

He shook his head and started pulling furniture out of Cooper's side of the living room. "There's no way to weather-proof it. The window covers won't hold the heat in. It's below freezing out there."

"So, what are you doing?" she asked, brows drawn together. He was moving end tables into the dining room.

"Cooper's couch pulls out. I think he'll probably be back sometime to sleep, so I thought I'd leave his bed free. I guess we could cram together on Jake's, but it's a twin." She shook her head and took one end of the recliner and helped him move it closer to the television. Then they tossed the sofa cushions off, and unfolded the bed. Sam disappeared to go find sheets and Andy went back to her bag and dug through it for some pajamas.

She knew she had a very short window of time to get to sleep before she was up for good, and so she changed quickly, pulling her hair down. By the time she finished, Sam had come back and gotten the fitted sheet stretched over the mattress. She helped him with the flat sheet, and was just spreading the second quilt over the top when he came back with two pillows. She climbed under the blankets as he dragged his shirt off and traded his jeans for a pair of flannel pajama pants. Then he kicked his stuff all together with her discarded clothing and climbed into bed.

Andy's eyes were already closed and he tucked up behind, banding an arm around her. The steady rise and fall of his chest against her back, the warmth of his thighs beneath hers and the feel of his palm curved around her ribcage all worked together to quickly lull her back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: Bet you thought I was lying when I said I had this whole thing written, huh? That's okay. I wouldn't believe me either. My track record's been a little spotty.**

**One thing I want to apologize for is not describing the rooms in this house, but if you've read the previous sequel, you may already have a good idea. As a recap, they'd split up the living room, Sarah's stuff on one side, Cooper's on the other. ****Also, Jake is Cooper's son from a previous relationship. Just a little heads up. **

**Thanks to everyone who's been reading, and for all the reviews. I was pleasantly surprised. It made work a lot more bearable. :) **

* * *

><p>Sam woke after only a few hours, blinking at the small shaft of sunlight hitting him right in the face. He tried to move away, to turn his face, but during those few hours, Andy had rolled and was wrapped around him, arm thrown over his waist, fingers curved softly against his chest. Instantly, he knew without a doubt that he wouldn't be going back to sleep. The sun cast a strip of light over the curve of her arm and over her hand. For a second he smiled, wondering what she would do if she woke up with the ring on her finger; how long it would take her to notice. But it was sitting in the pocket of his jeans, in a pile more than four feet away.<p>

In truth, he'd had opportunity after opportunity to ask her. But it never felt just _right. _And that was the thing. The way they'd gotten together, it had been…irregular. To say the least. And the way they were with each other; a perfectly balanced mix of best friends and lovers… That wasn't exactly the most normal thing either; at least not in his experience. It was the thing that he'd always felt was missing in his other relationships. Either they had chemistry, but he never felt like they got him; or they got along but had no spark. But McNally?

Maybe it was the job; the fact that they had been forced to rely on each other, to learn each other in that way that made all the difference. Either way. It wasn't usual, he was sure of it. It was special. And so he when asked her, he wanted it to be the same. Special and irregular, and _right. _

The night he'd bought the ring, they'd actually been in the middle of a huge battle. He couldn't even remember how it started, but they'd given each other the cold shoulder for a few days, breaking the silence only to snap and yell at each other. On the second day, he'd taken one look at her, at her sneer and way she waved her hands, blind with rage and had walked out the door and driven down to the jewelry store. He couldn't explain it. He'd been thinking about it, of course. For months. But for some reason, even though they hated each other that day, that was the day he _knew._ But he couldn't ask her then, while they'd been locked into that battle of wills. She'd have said no just to spite him. So, he waited. And for some reason, he was still waiting.

A dozen times, he'd almost given in to the temptation, given into that voice in his head that screamed at him to just do it already. It happened at least once a day; at the most ridiculous times. When he was in the shower, and she was balanced precariously with one foot up on the sink, shaving her legs, cursing every time she nicked herself. When she'd convinced him to show her how to change the oil in his truck in the middle of November; _just for fun_, she'd said. And so, they'd ended up under the truck, cold cement beneath their backs, greasy fingerprints marching in a line across her forehead.

She made a soft noise, a sort of half-word and he smiled down at her as he towed up the blanket, covering her shoulder. Andy squirmed a little and as her leg lifted across him, he shifted, trying to move her as heat flooded his body. The feel of her, soft and strong, pressed hard against him, had him sliding his hands down over her, over her back and hip. In her sleep, she arched back into his hands, a pleased sigh escaping her lips. And that? That part was good too. So, he was going to do it. Now.

He rolled her slightly, just enough so he could slide out from under her, intent on getting to his pants. But as he stood, he heard the back door open and close, and after a moment, Cooper popped his head around the corner. Sam put his finger to his lips and then, after tossing a last glance back at Andy, burrowed deeply under the quilts, he stepped away, and walked towards the hall.

When he stepped up to the refrigerator, he craned his neck a little, glancing behind him at the clock on the stove. Almost noon. While the night spent on the waiting room floor hadn't been particularly restful, he hadn't really expected to sleep so late.

Cooper was loading up the coffee pot, but he looked like he was on autopilot. His clothes were a little limp and creased, like maybe he'd been wearing them a bit too long, slept in them even. And his movements, his fingers, usually deft, were clumsy; he was having trouble pulling apart the filters.

Sam reached over and snagged them right out of his hands and separated them, and handed them back.

"Thanks," Cooper muttered as he scooped grounds into it.

Sam leaned back against the refrigerator and opened the jug of juice, keeping his eyes on his brother-in-law. He took a swig and then frowned a little. "You're not going back right away, are you?" But Cooper nodded.

"Yeah, I thought I'd shower and then go pick up Jake. Kit was supposed to bring him later tonight, but Sarah says she feels bad, making him wait that long. And we want to see him so…" He trailed off with a tired shrug. And then he straightened a little, and fixed him with a curious stare. "Hey, wasn't last night supposed to be the night you…"

Sam replaced the juice in the fridge and made a face. "Yeah. Didn't really get around to it."

Cooper smiled. "You're gonna hear about it, you know. Sarah was talking about it yesterday; she wanted details."

"Can't wait," Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"Can't wait for what?" Both their heads snapped towards the doorway at Andy. She was two feet into the room, flannel pants slung low on her hips, bedhead all over the place.

For a second, Sam faltered, no excuse on hand. But Cooper covered.

"To go back to the hospital," he said smoothly as he turned, pulling cups out of the cabinets. Sam thought it was probably a good thing that Andy was still half asleep and not really looking at Cooper, because as he lied, the back of his neck flushed pink, giving him away.

She yawned, leaning over to look out the window quick. "When are we going?"

Sam jerked his head at Cooper. "He's just here to clean up a little and then he's going back. We could go in then."

She nodded and then hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "Mind if I shower first?" When they shook their heads, she wandered back out into the hall. Sam turned back to Cooper and took the full cup he held out.

He took a sip and walked over to the table. "Thanks, man."

Cooper nodded, splashing a little milk into his cup. "No problem."

* * *

><p>They took separate vehicles. Sarah and Cooper had finally given up on her ancient hatchback and after a little thought, decided that they needed something big. So he took their new SUV and went to pick up Jake, and Sam and Andy met them at the hospital. While they waited for Cooper and Jake to show, they wandered into the gift store, and Sam laid down the cash for a candy bar that was far too expensive and a little yellow stuffed duck. By the time they were done, both Laffertys were waiting next to the elevators.<p>

Fifteen minutes later, Cooper and Jake were sitting on the tiny sofa against the wall, television playing a little too loud in the corner near the ceiling. Cooper had Carly cupped carefully in his hands and Jake was up on his knees next to his dad, looking down at her, running his hand over her little hat. Sarah cleared her throat quietly and as Sam and Andy looked at her, she waved them closer.

"Look, we were waiting for Jake to get here before we started with all the Christmas stuff, and now…" She shrugged, looking at them sheepishly. "Now, we really aren't going to have a lot of time to do some of it, so I was wondering…" She raised her eyebrows at Sam. He started shaking his head but then Andy gave him a reproving look and smacked his arm with the back of her hand.

He rolled his eyes and nodded. "Fine. What do you have left?"

Sarah waved a hand. "Not much, really."

"Sarah." He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Fine." She dropped her voice again. "Everything, okay? We still need a tree, and we have to do the baking, and the snowball fight."

"You've gotta be kidding me," he said, rubbing his tired eyes.

She gave him a little shove. "Last year, you loved the snowball fight. Quit acting like it's some big hardship."

He folded his arms, trying to look pissed, but Andy saw the corner of his mouth turning up. "Anything else?"

She thought about it, slowly shaking her head. "I don't think so. Wait, how long are you here?"

Sam glanced at Andy. "We had to trade some shifts. Here 'til Monday, and then we'll work the next week, over the holiday."

Sarah flashed him an apologetic look. "That's too bad. Maybe we can have an early Christmas dinner before you leave. Open presents and everything. I'm not cooking though." She looked from Sam to Andy, but Andy was turning around. Cooper had come up behind her, and was handing over the baby.

Andy tucked Carly carefully into her arms. She walked over to the window with her, and very slowly, swayed back and forth.

"Watch out," Sarah warned with a smile. "You'll catch baby fever." But Andy didn't answer. She just held Carly to her, smoothing a hand over the blanket wrapped around her, running a knuckle over the curve of a round cheek. "Or maybe it's too late," Sarah said quietly, glancing at Cooper and as he caught her eye, he jerked his head at Sam. Her brother's eyes were locked onto Andy from across the room

He watched, completely still as she bounced from side to side, mumbling nonsense to Carly. There was something wrong with his heart. He was sure of it. It was beating unsteadily, almost like panic except not. It was more like…anticipation, and something very close to longing. From the way her head tilted down, and her hair fell over her shoulder, to the straight back, and bent arms. And that look on her face. Happiness touched with awe. He would give everything he had to see that look on her face for the rest of his life.

She turned around slowly and her eyes moved to Sarah and they grinned at each other. And then her eyes swung to Sam and the expression changed. Her eyes were soft, and her smile held a small hint of curious desire, just an iota of a thought. And then he stepped up and she passed the baby to him, leaning close. Her head bent under his nose and he caught a hint of her scent and that clean, new baby smell and he let out a shuddery breath, shaking his head when Andy looked at him curiously.

Cooper was talking to Jake about going down to the cafeteria to get a snack and Sarah's eyes never moved from Sam as she said, "Take Andy with you. She looks like she could eat."

Andy shrugged. "I could use something, I guess." She tossed another one of those looks at Sam and then followed Cooper and Jake out into the hall.

* * *

><p>Sarah didn't waste any time.<p>

"You haven't asked her yet." It wasn't a question.

"Don't you have more important things to worry about?" Sam asked quietly as he stroked a fingertip over the side of the baby's face. Carly was awake and alert, staring up at him with only the barest amount of realization as to what was going on around her. Sam walked around the room very slowly, keeping her moving.

"Look, you bought that ring almost two months ago. What are you waiting for?"

"Uh, you to get off my back," he muttered. "Why do you care so much anyway?"

Sarah raised her eyebrows. "I can't be interested in my little brother's happiness?"

"Not without it having something to do with you." He looked at her suspiciously. "What's going on?"

She hesitated but he kept looking at her. "I might have said something about my soon-to-be sister-in-law in the dedication for my book. And since I'm giving Andy a copy for Christmas…"

He raised an eyebrow. "You didn't," he said slowly. She shrugged. "Damn it, Sarah…"

"Well, I thought you would have done it by now. You've been talking about it forever."

"I'm waiting for the right time, alright?"

"Oh yeah? When?"

"Well," he said, giving her his unhappy smile. "I thought I would do it last night after the Christmas party, but you kind of shot that plan to hell."

"Oh, sorry. Next time I go into labor I'll be sure to consult your social calendar." He rolled his eyes at her and walked towards the window, cradling Carly's head in his hand. "Look, she's not going to care how or when you do it. As long as you just _do it_. Why don't you just give it to her as a Christmas present?"

"We aren't getting each other anything. We're doing that trip. Besides, isn't that kind of a cliché?"

"So?"

"Mommy needs to learn how to mind her own business," Sam said sweetly to Carly. "Doesn't she?"

Sarah crossed her arms and sat back in bed. "Wow. You're scared she's going to say no, aren't you? You're such a chicken shit," she finished with a laugh.

"And you're a giant pain in my ass," Sam said under his breath.

"Hey, be nice to her. She just gave birth to your niece," Andy said with a curious smile from the doorway. She was carrying a candy bar and a soda and was trailed by Jake and Cooper. "We found some vending machines down the hall." She bypassed Sarah and walked right up to Sam, passing him the food while taking the baby from him. She sat down on the couch and Jake climbed up next to her and they started whispering together as they looked at Carly.

Sam turned to Sarah. "We're done talking about this," he said quietly as Cooper sat down on the edge of her bed.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Fine."

"And don't say anything to her about it either," he whispered, looking at her seriously.

"I'm not promising that," Sarah responded with a sly smile. Then she got a strange glint in her eye. "You know, if you gave me the weekend, I could have _her_ asking _you_." Sam glanced over his shoulder, but Andy hadn't looked up, hadn't even acknowledged that they were in the same room.

"Don't even think about it."

"You know," she started loudly, but Cooper nudged her with his elbow.

"Lay off. Everyone's had a stressful couple of days."

"Fine," Sarah said lying back against the pillow. "Whatever. What are you three going to do today?"

"Andy's gonna make cookies," Jake said from the couch, and Sam's eyebrows shot up.

"Really," he said, trying not to laugh.

"What?" Andy looked mildly insulted. "I can make cookies."

"Yeah, these aren't the kind that come in a tube," he said snidely. "You might have to actually measure and mix."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Any idiot can read a recipe," she said, keeping her tone sweet. "I think you've proven that over and over again."

He quirked an eyebrow at her and shot an irritated look over his shoulder when Sarah started laughing. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into," he warned Andy. "Christmas cookies are kind of a big deal in this family. It's our only big tradition."

"Well, you're on tree duty, so I guess we both have important jobs today." They stared at each other, feeling something competitive spark between them until Cooper cleared his throat, and both their eyes moved in that direction.

Sarah was grinning at them like she'd won the lottery and Cooper was trying his best to not be amused by the situation, but wasn't really succeeding. "Maybe you three should get to it. The day's half gone already." Andy nodded and stood, walking the baby back over to him. He took Carly in his hands and passed her to Sarah who smiled as she settled her close to her body. Sam dug the coats out of the pile in the corner and passed them around to Andy and Jake and the three of them headed out the door.

As they walked out of the room, their steps and voices echoed down the hall and Sarah shifted, holding the baby between them. "They'll be engaged by the time they leave. I'd put money on it." Cooper just smiled.

* * *

><p>The three of them bundled into Sam's truck and they dropped Andy off at the grocery store with a list and he and Jake went to pick out a Christmas tree. When they returned for her an hour later, they had a large Frasier fir strapped into the bed of his truck. Andy handed the bags of food back to Jake and then they drove out of the city and back to the lake.<p>

While Sam and Jake went to the garage in search of a saw to cut the tree trunk down to size, Andy carted the bags into the house. Then she held the door open for them while they carried it into the house. After that, the real work started. The tree stand had already been dug out from the depths of the basement, but the boxes of ornaments were still down there, so Sam and Jake went in search of them while Andy started cleaning the kitchen.

It wasn't a big job, but there wasn't a ton of counter space, so she did what she could to clear all the surfaces. The recipes Sarah had left out were written in tiny script on index cards that looked about fifty years old. When she noticed that the edges were stained with decades of fingerprints and ingredients and it suddenly dawned on Andy what kind of role she'd stepped into. As untraditional as this family was, this was clearly something that was important to them. Suddenly, the idea that they were willing to let her attempt to recreate a part of Christmases that had come before was almost overwhelming and for a split second, she considered calling Sam in to give her a hand. And then she remembered the arrogant twist of his lips when he'd teased her about it earlier. There was no way she was asking him for help. Tradition or not.

She pushed her sleeves up and went to the tall cupboard and pulled out the canvas apron hanging in there. She slipped the loop over her head and doubled the strings around her waist. And then she started unloading all the things she'd need to start on the first batch.

Back in the living room, Sam gently set a large box on the floor. Behind him, Jake was sounding a little strained and so he turned and took his box too, stacking it on top of the other.

"Got a knife?"

"Um…" Jake turned around and started digging through the drawer in Cooper's end table. He came back with a shiny pair of scissors. Sam sliced the boxes open and then he and Jake peered inside.

Sam surveyed the contents. In the larger box were several strings of lights, all wrapped in perfect figure-eights, tied together with zip strips, and labeled with tags that said "white", "icicles", "colors." There were also several cartons of generic glass ornaments in the bottom of the box, organized by color. "Sarah's a freak," he muttered under his breath. Then he shot a grin over at Jake. "Well, might as well get started. Which ones should we use?" Jake started pulling out the colored lights and he and Sam began winding them around the tree. Andy walked in as they were finishing with the first string and beginning on the second.

"Looks like you've gotten a lot done," she commented, sarcasm fairly dripping from her lips.

Sam smirked at her. "Can't rush perfection." She sat down in Cooper's recliner and watched as Sam and Jake passed the lights around the tree, giving them an over-enthusiastic clap when they finished. "Don't you have something to do?" Sam asked, giving her an irritated smile.

"I've got the timer on. So, did you give it to him yet?"

Sam gave her a look. "It's supposed to be a Christmas present."

She raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, who cares? I want to give it to him." She glanced at Jake who was wearing one of the biggest grins she'd ever seen and she got up from the chair. Sam rolled his eyes and then walked over to help her pull the present out from behind the sofa. Andy carried it over to Jake and set it on the floor and he just stood there, watching her. "It's okay," she said, conspiratorially. "We have other ones you can open on Christmas." At that, he flashed a grin and tore into it.

"Whoa!" Sam's hands settled on Andy's shoulders and he squeezed as she reached out and helped Jake tear the paper off the Xbox 360 with Kinect. "This is awesome!"

"Here. These too." Andy slid a few smaller ones over the carpet to him and he ripped the paper off a second controller and stack of four games.

"Can we play now?" He was nearly twitching with anticipation, hands scrabbling over the packaging, tearing the boxes open. Andy sunk down onto her knees next to him as Sam stepped forward.

"Let's finish with the tree and get all this cleaned up first. Then we can set it up."

Andy made a disappointed face. "Well, what comes next?"

"Jake?" Sam raised his eyebrows. Jake reluctantly set the Xbox aside and pulled open the second box from the basement and rapidly started pulling out ornaments. At first Andy thought they were all the same, but as more and more came out, she realized that each was just a little different. She stood and peered into the box as Jake hung them on the tree. Made of twists of wire and metal strips, each was manipulated and soldered into a three-dimensional version of a snowflake with colored beads strung through the centers.

"Did Sarah make these?" Andy asked holding one up. "They're beautiful."

"Sarah and Jake made them a few years ago," Sam said and Andy looked over to Jake who was wearing a proud grin.

Andy was about to ask more about them, but Sam's head snapped up and he sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?"

Andy froze and then cursed under her breath as she tore through the hall to the kitchen. By the time she got there, the smell had intensified and she threw open the oven door. A small plume of smoke came billowing out and she waved at it with a towel before reaching in for the cookie sheet. Outside the kitchen, in the hallway, the smoke alarm began going off, and as she dropped the cookie sheet on top of the stove and closed the oven, she heard Sam jumping and batting at it. Finally, he just tore the cover off and popped the battery out.

"I thought you set the timer," he said as he and Jake walked in. She glared at him and gestured at the stove. He glanced at it. "Yeah, I guess it helps if you hit start, huh?" He flashed his dimples at her, and she shook her head in frustration.

"If you think you can do any better, be my guest." She waved at the bowls sitting on the counters. "I've only gotten through the first recipe."

"Ah, McNally. You gotta have a plan." He spread out the cards, glancing at them quickly, and then rearranged them. "The trick is to do the sugar cookie dough first so it can sit in the refrigerator while you do the rest." He grinned at her. She'd crossed her arms over her chest, looking entirely unamused. As she watched, he quickly filled the second cookie sheet and popped it into the oven, fingers flying rapidly over the buttons of the timer. Then he cleared the counter and pulled out a large bowl.

"You've done this before," she accused.

He smirked. "My last girlfriend _was_ a baker, you know."

She glared at him and leaned close, a menacing smile on her face. "You really don't want to have any sex at all this weekend, do you?" she whispered.

His dimples popped and she felt her smile spreading into a grin as he slid his hand behind her back and towed her close. "I was only joking. I grew up in the same house as Sarah; we learned the same things. It's been a while, but I think I remember.

Andy leaned up, looking over his shoulder as he cracked a few eggs, one in each hand. "Yeah, well you could have given me some tips, you know."

Sam smiled at her over his shoulder. "What fun would that have been?" He reached over the mess on the counter for the mixer and before he turned it on, he looked at Jake. "I think I'm going to be here a while, buddy. Feel like showing her how to do the tree?" Jake was getting a taste of dough from the first bowl and he nodded. "Alright, go for it." As Andy and Jake turned to leave the room, Sam grabbed a handful of Andy's shirt and towed her back. He kissed her quick and gave her butt a fond pat before he spun her back around towards the hall.

She laughed as she walked away and he turned towards the task at hand.

* * *

><p>Andy stretched, hanging a few ornaments closer to the top as Jake worked closer to the bottom. She glanced down at him, smiling as she saw the red of his hair through the branches of the tree as he ducked underneath to grab a fallen ornament.<p>

"So I bet you're excited to have a new sister."

He shrugged as he stood up again. "I guess."

She raised her eyebrows. "Not really?"

He kept his eyes down as he worked, fingers traveling carefully over the branches as he slipped the cords around needles. "My friend Brady has a new brother, and he said his parents only care about the baby."

Andy paused, arms dropping from the tree. "I'm sure that's not true." He shrugged and then turned around, digging in the box for more. "Jake," she said, but he didn't turn to face her. "You know that's not going to happen with your dad and Sarah."

"Maybe they won't want me to come over since they have the baby now." At first, it seemed like the worry of a much younger child. But given the fact that he'd been moved back and forth between the houses at a pretty constant rate for most of his life, she could see how the thought of changing the routine could upset him. He already didn't get to spend as much time with Cooper and Sarah as he'd probably like. And now he'd have to share his dad with a sister who would always be around.

Andy's eyes moved towards the kitchen nervously, wishing Sam were back. And then, realizing she was on her own, she sat down on the floor next to Jake and started helping him pull out more ornaments. "I'm pretty sure they're always going to want you here," she said. He was silent, but shrugged in acknowledgement. "Do you remember the first time I came here?" He nodded. "Sarah told me then that they wished they could see you more. And they already knew about the baby." Tentatively, she reached out and put her hand on his head, smoothing the red hair back from his forehead. "Things might be a little different, but they love you, and they want you here. Plus they're really going to need your help. Babies are a lot of work. There are bottles and new toys and lots of dirty clothes, and dirty diapers," she said.

"I'm not helping with those," he said with a grin.

"I don't blame you, kid." She pushed herself up off the floor and went back to work on the tree. He didn't say anything and she turned to face him, a little surprised when she saw him looking at her. "What?"

"Is that why you and Sam don't have a baby? Because they're a lot of work?"

"Um…" She felt the blood rise to her cheeks and she turned back to the tree. "No. Not really." He stepped up next to her and reached in between the branches to adjust the string of lights.

"Then how come you don't have any?"

She bit her lip, and thought about it for a second. "I guess because having kids is a big step. And most people like to be married first."

"So, why don't you get married? Then you can have kids." He said it matter-of-factly; like it was the simplest equation in the world.

_Because he hasn't asked me. _ There it was. The truth. But she wasn't about to admit that to Jake. Andy let her eyes move over his face. He was starting to move into that middle place; in between a child and a teenager. Unmistakably Cooper's son, his red hair fell straight, curling a little at the ends, and his cheekbones were sharpening, the baby fat slowly melting away. Already he looked older than he had when Andy first met him. But he was still very much a boy.

She'd been around enough to know that though Sarah had seen him grow from a very small child, she talked to him like he was an adult. She was unfailingly honest with him, reining herself in only to spare his pride and his innocence. Cooper was more thoughtful with his son, possibly a little more protective, but no less forthright. Sam was maybe a touch more cautious than Cooper; unwilling to risk any sort of rift that might be caused by saying a little too much. Though he was far less comfortable around kids than his sister and brother-in-law, he'd also known Jake since he was a toddler, and so there was a certain familiarity between them; a strange older brother/younger brother dynamic with nearly thirty years between them. Andy, on the other hand, was still trying to find her footing with Jake. She wasn't quite sure how much to reveal.

If she were really honest she'd admit that the whole baby thing still freaked her out, just a little. Not the baby itself so much as the massive sacrifice of freedom and personal space and the thought that after too short a time, it wouldn't just be her and Sam anymore.

But marriage? She once thought she'd never be okay with it; back when she was with Luke and things weren't ever quite right. But with Sam, the way they fit together, fit into each other's lives, things were different. Sarah had said it herself; just a piece of paper. Nothing had to change. And when she thought about it like that, she _wanted_ it. Wanted it bad. She wanted him with her physically, emotionally, legally…however she could get him.

But he hadn't _asked her_. Which probably just meant he needed more time; and she could wait. She would probably wait forever for him.

So what she said was, "Well, I guess it's because we haven't really been together that long." She stepped back, folded her arms and watched him work.

"How long?"

"Well, um…a little over nine months. Okay," she said rolling her eyes when he looked at her. "I guess it's been a while. But some people take a long time to get married. Your dad and Sarah were together for two years before they got married."

"That_ is_ a long time."

"I guess. But that's what worked for them. You have to wait until both people are ready."

"You and Sam aren't ready yet?"

She sat down on the couch as he turned to her. "Well, I mean, we've talked about it. But….hmmm." She paused, more than a little unsure of where she was going with this. "We just don't need to rush into anything."

And what was she doing, talking to an eleven year old boy about her relationship anyway?

Jake was looking at her and she shrugged. "I guess if it was the right time, we'd know, you know?" Andy folded her arms across her chest and shrugged. "Are we finished? Should we plug it in?" At his nod, she got down on her knees and ducked underneath the tree, fitting the plug into the socket. The bulbs came on around her, and she crawled back out. The colors reflected off the metal twists of the ornaments as light shot through the glass of the beads. It really was an impressive tree.

"Andy?" Jake said, and she turned to him.

"Yeah?"

"I think you _should._ Get married I mean. And have kids."

She smiled and then turned back to the tree. "We will. Someday."

* * *

><p>Sam backed out of the hallway and walked back into the kitchen. The ring box was digging into his thigh, snug in the pocket of his jeans, in the same place it had been all day. Not the right time, huh? He sank into one of the chairs next to the window and put his elbows up on the table, flexing his fingers. Now he was confused. Confused and incredibly annoyed.<p>

She'd been feeling him out. No, not feeling out. Dropping hints; giant hydrogen-bomb-hints. They'd gone to a wedding together in September and she'd mentioned how she didn't want to make a big fuss at _their_ wedding. Things like that. Seemingly offhand, but pointed, to be sure. Things that should have made his heart pound and his body sweat. But they didn't. Not then, not now.

Since he'd made the decision to propose, he'd been purposely vague when answering those questions; not wanting to give away too much, not wanting to take away from the moment, whenever the moment finally came. But it'd never actually occurred to him that she might not be ready. In fact, he'd been pretty sure she'd been ready for months. So it either meant that he'd missed something, or that she'd changed her mind. Both options irritated him immensely. He heard feet hit the hall and he shot up out of his chair and over to the stove. He was just reaching for the oven door when she and Jake came around the corner.

"Hey," Andy said, face brightening when she saw him. "That's a good look for you." She gestured at the apron around his waist.

"Thanks." He turned away as the timer went off and pulled out two sheets of cookies. Then he grabbed the two full of raw dough and slid them in. "You all done?"

Jake was picking at one of cookies on the hot sheets. "Yeah, it looks good."

"Don't burn yourself," Sam said gruffly, and Jake's eyes slid over to him in surprise as his hand fell away. Sam instantly felt a flicker of guilt and he stepped up and used a spatula to separate a few of the cookies. He set them on a paper towel and handed it to him. "Seriously, be careful. Sarah will murder me if you end up in the ER."

As Jake turned to go back into the living room, Andy stepped up and put her hand on his shoulder. "Something wrong?"

He shook his head, not quite avoiding her eyes, but not exactly looking at her either. "Nope. Everything's great."

"Okay," she bobbed her eyebrows once, but moved back as he started pulling cookies off the sheets and setting them onto the cooling racks. "I can help, if you want."

"I think I've got it under control." He was being short. He knew it, but couldn't keep the sharpness out of his voice. She was watching him, watching the muscles in his jaw flex and clench as he fought to keep his eyes off her. In truth, he wanted to grab her and shake her and ask her what the hell was going through her brain. Why had he been agonizing over the decision to propose if she wasn't ready?

"Really, I can like, scoop dough or mix or something."

"Andy, just get out, okay?" he snapped. "I can do this." She was surprised; he could tell from her silence. And then he started to feel bad. It wasn't her fault. Not really.

"Yeah, fine. Great." Andy held her hands up and walked out of the room and he tipped his head back in frustration. If he left it like this, if he let her just walk away while both of them were still upset, it would get worse. Which would make for an uncomfortable night for all three of them.

After a long moment, he set down the spatula and snatched off the apron and followed her. He found her and Jake on their butts in front of the television, setting up the game system.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Sam asked her and she glanced up at him for only an instant and then looked back at the television.

"I'm in the middle of something."

"You just sat down. You're in the beginning of something."

"Either way, I'm busy." He put his hands on his hips and stared down at her, unamused. "Oh, hey," she said, glancing at him again. "When you're done, maybe you could run into town and pick up a pizza. I think Jake's getting hungry." The dismissive way she said it was what got to him; like he really had nothing better to do. He shook his head and clenched his jaw, sorting through the words that were popping into his head, trying to find one that wasn't a curse word.

Jake was looking back and forth between them curiously and Sam flashed him what he hoped was a convincing smile and then turned around and stalked back into the kitchen.

* * *

><p>When Sam came back through the door, he tossed the extra large pizza on the kitchen counter and pulled off his hat and gloves, kicked the snow off his shoes and then hung his coat up. After grabbing a stack of paper plates from the counter, he balanced them on top of the box and carried it all into the living room. He put the food on the floor and looked down at Andy and Jake.<p>

He'd had a lot of time to think it over. There'd been several more cookie sheets to rotate through the oven, and then the drive into town and the drive back from town. He was overreacting. The whole thing had just caught him off guard. Obviously, she wasn't going to divulge her private thoughts about their relationship to his nephew. And besides, she hadn't said she didn't _want_ to get married. She was just answering a complicated question as simply as she knew how; there was undoubtedly more going on in her head than she let on. Although, one wouldn't be able to tell that simply by looking at her. Right now, she looked very much in her element.

They'd turned off all the lights in the room except for the tree. The colored lights were reflecting off the glass of the picture windows and were filling the room with pinpoints of reds, blues, yellows and green. They were both in flannel pajamas; Andy's were red with tiny white stars, and Jake's were blue with hockey sticks and pucks. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, and Andy was stretched out on her stomach next to him, legs bent up and swinging from the knee. Both had game controllers clutched tightly between their hands, and Andy had her tongue stuck between her teeth as she tipped hers. She glanced up at him, gave him a distracted smile, and then turned back to the game, making a face as she took a hit.

"Why aren't you using the Kinect?" he asked.

"Not enough room," Jake said, eyes glued to the screen. "We'd have to move stuff around." Sam glanced around at the room. Everything was still kind of a mess. Most of Cooper's furniture had been displaced into the dining room so they could use the pull-out bed, and their bags were open, contents spilling out in the corner. In addition, the boxes from Jake's present and from the decorations were cluttering up the remaining space.

He raised his eyebrows. "So let's do it."

Andy looked up at him. "He wants to wait for Cooper."

Sam's eyes shot back to Jake, who gave him a shrug. "Oh. Yeah, no problem," he said, hoping he didn't sound too disappointed. "Who's winning?" Sam asked, although he had a feeling he already knew.

Jake's eyes were also trained seriously on the screen. "Me," he said without looking away. And then he made some complicated move with his thumb, and Andy dropped the controller and her face fell into the pillow she was lying on. Jake started laughing and fell backwards onto the carpet. Sam nudged Andy with his foot and she looked up, defeat evident on her face.

"He's beat me six times. I'm out."

"Better move over then." Sam cracked his knuckles dramatically. "I'll show you how it's done." Andy rolled her eyes and crawled towards the food as Sam took her place.

Andy was on her third slice by the time Sam gave up. As he looked at her, shaking his head in stunned amazement, she pushed the pizza box over to him with her foot. He put a few pieces on a plate and then stood, wincing as he straightened, still stiff from spending six hours on the waiting room floor. He fell back onto the couch and looked over at Andy.

"Hey," he said quietly, and she turned to him, eyes still slightly unforgiving. He jerked his head towards the couch and after a long moment, Andy climbed up next to him. Jake pulled the pizza to him and ate a piece straight out of the box like Andy had done.

Sam used the remote and turned the game over to regular television. Then he tossed it to Jake and let him scroll through the channels. Sam turned back to Andy. She was sitting next to him, a good foot away, knees pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped loosely around them, when she wasn't using her hands to shove her hair back behind her ears. She was trying to look cool, like she wasn't mad, but after nine months, he saw right through that act.

He shot a glance over at Jake who was stuffing himself with pizza and then looked back at Andy. He reached out and touched her shoulder, but her eyes stayed locked onto the screen.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" he whispered

She glanced at him. "Keep going..."

"I was… I was in a bad mood. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"I didn't even do anything, you know," she hissed.

He nodded. "Yeah. I know. I'm sorry," he said again. "Now, will you please come over here?" A smile started playing at the corner of her lips and she rolled her eyes. But she slid across the cushion, tucking her legs underneath her as she leaned against him, head on his shoulder. He pressed a kiss to her hair and then started eating.

"What are we gonna do now?" Jake asked, pulling pieces pepperoni off the pizza; he was methodically clearing off what was left of the slices.

Sam checked his watch. Only eight-thirty. Next to him, Andy was already yawning. "What do you usually do?"

He lifted a shoulder. "I don't know."

"Well, when are you supposed to go to bed?"

"I don't know," Jake said again with a grin.

"Yeah, right." Sam pushed a hand through his hair. "I guess you can stay up and watch a movie, but don't tell your dad." Jake shot to his feet and as he ran back to his room to pick one, Sam reached over the arm of the couch and grabbed a throw pillow off the floor. He set it on his leg and patted it, and after shooting him a grateful look, Andy stretched out, head on his thigh.

"Thanks," she said quietly as his hand came down and his fingers started threading through her hair. "I don't know why I'm so tired today."

"It was a long day," he said softly. "We just need a full night; then we'll be back on track."

They sat there quietly for a while, listening to the television and Jake as he banged around in his room. "He's a great kid," Andy said thoughtfully.

"He is." Sam glanced up to see if Jake was coming back. "But I was kind of hoping he'd fall asleep early so we could maybe pick up where we left off last night."

She flipped over onto her back and looked up at him with a smile. "I didn't bring the underwear."

"Yeah, well, it wouldn't have stayed on very long anyway."

Her grin widened, and though the tree was already throwing splashes of color over her skin, he could have sworn her cheeks reddened, just slightly. "Maybe when the movie's over?"

"It's a date," Sam said as he rubbed his thumb over her cheek and across her lower lip. She opened her mouth slightly and nipped at it, hard enough to make him suck in a breath. And then she pushed herself up on her elbows and tilted her head back. It wasn't much of a stretch for him to bend to meet her mouth. She rolled towards him, and her hand gripped the back of his neck, holding him to her as her tongue swept in against his.

"That's really gross," Jake said and Sam's eyes snapped open, focusing on him. He was standing just inside the room, half a dozen DVD's tucked under his arm, a nervous grin on his face. As Andy righted herself, turning back to face the television, Sam kept his hand on her, high on her shoulder under the soft weight of her hair.

"Give it a few years," he said. "Let's see what you've got." As he and Jake shuffled through a stack of DVD's, Sam tried to ignore the way Andy's hand had slipped under the pillow and was moving against the inside of his thigh. She had her face away from him, but from the curve of her cheek, he could tell she was grinning like an idiot. Finally, Sam just snatched a movie from the middle of the pile and shoved it at Jake. "Put this one in."

As Jake was working on the television, Sam reached under the pillow and grabbed Andy's hand. "Keep it in your pants, McNally," he whispered hoarsely. She laughed into the pillow and he bent down, nuzzling the hair around her ear. "Two hours," he growled.

Of course, by the time the movie was over, Andy had been snoring softly on his lap for the better part of an hour, and Jake was passed out on the couch next to her, head propped up on her thighs. Sam looked down at them and started wiggling out from underneath her. She barely moved the entire time.

He started with Jake. Also fully asleep, he hardly twitched at all as Sam picked him up from the couch and carefully picked his way across the living room floor, narrowly missing the open pizza box, the stack of DVDs, the empty boxes that used to hold the Christmas decorations. He almost groaned under his weight. At eleven, he wasn't yet as tall as Andy, didn't weight quite as much, but he was heavier than Sam had anticipated; more awkward, all knees and elbows. He'd seen Cooper toss this kid around like he was a sack of flour; but then again, Cooper had a good six inches on him.

He shifted him in his arms until it was more comfortable and then headed down the hall. There used to be only two bedrooms down this hall, one on either side. But this past summer, he and Cooper had built one right between them, taking a little space from each room, shrinking each by a several feet to create a nursery. Sam passed the bathroom and turned to the right, into Jake's room. He set him carefully on the bed and drew the blankets up over him.

Andy was still curled into the couch when he got back, knees pulled up, hands thrust under the pillow. He reached behind the tree and unplugged it, then turned off the television and made a path through all the crap littering the floor. Finally, he bent to the couch again, gathering her up into his arms. She fit against him easier, hip pressing soft and familiar against his midsection. It was only half a dozen steps across the room to the pull-out bed. And since she was already in her pajamas, he simply set her down, head on her pillow and covered her. He took a few seconds to strip out of his clothing and tug on his pajama pants. Then he climbed back into bed, and when she sensed his weight next to her and rolled towards him, he pulled her close, resting her head on his shoulder.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you're still enjoying this. All the action comes in the next chapter ;) And I apologize in advance for being a conflict junkie.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**NOTE: Okay, so here's where it gets a little ridiculous. A little messy and ridiculous. A little dirty, messy and ridiculous. So, you've been warned. **

**In my defense, I hate traditional neighborhood holiday parties, and it stands to reason that Sarah would feel the same. Also, this chapter cuts off in the middle of the evening, but when I originally split them up, I was trying to keep each chapter around the same length, so...yeah. Basically, this chapter's all ready to go and I haven't finished tweaking the next one, so you're getting it as is :)**

**Thanks again for the reviews and the crazy amount of alerts. I continue to be stunned :)**

**And to the person who pled for no angst...well, I just don't do that :) But on a scale of 1-10, with the Witness being a 10, I say this story falls around a 2. And not til the last chapter. So no worries.**

* * *

><p>Andy felt him before she was fully conscious. Felt his hands skimming lightly under the covers, felt his fingers popping the buttons open on her pajama top. As each one fell away, she felt the soft brushing of his hair as it touched her skin and his mouth followed closely behind, moving up her body. She widened her legs, enjoying the feel of him, of his body, hard and heavy on top of her. By the time he flipped the last button open, he was stretched full length between her thighs, head still mostly under the blankets as he nuzzled at her right nipple. As his mouth closed over it, her eyes flew open, now fully awake. And then her limbs went rigid under him and she started to frantically pat his shoulder, increasing the force until he lifted his head.<p>

"Usually, you like it when I wake you up like this," he murmured, grinding against her hips. She widened her eyes, nodding her head towards the other side of the room and he tossed a glance over his shoulder.

Jake was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the television, game controller in hand, headphones over his ears. Not even a meter from the end of the bed.

In stunned surprise, Sam clutched at the blankets, trying to make sure he and Andy were both covered, but he lost his balance. He'd propped himself up on his hands, and when he removed one to frantically adjust their bedding, he tipped over onto the other side of Andy and crashed to the floor. He sat up quickly, lost in the pile of blanket and sheet that he'd torn from the bed.

Andy, though still in her pajamas was pretty exposed with nothing covering her chest, and she yelped twisting to face the wall as she buttoned her top back up. Her eyes were trained on Jake who hadn't moved a muscle. He was facing away, his eyes were focused hard on the television, and the headphones were solidly around both ears.

She ran a shaking hand through her tangled hair and scooted off the side of the bed, ignoring Sam when he said her name. Andy walked quickly out of the living room, through the dining room and down the hall to the bathroom where she splashed some water on her face and brushed her teeth. Then, she walked straight into the kitchen, flipped on the light over the stove, and started filling the coffee pot.

The boys came in behind her, Jake talking loudly to Sam about snowmobiling with the neighbors if they had time that afternoon. Andy turned around as she heard their bare feet slap against the floor. When Jake moved to open the fridge, he glanced at her and smiled and, self-conscious, she wrapped her arms around her middle, not really moving when Sam walked up. He reached over her head to grab some mugs out of the cupboard and he leaned close to whisper in her ear.

"He didn't see anything." She met his eyes and he lifted a shoulder, smiling and then turned back to his nephew. "Pancakes?"

"Yeah!"

As Sam moved away and started pulling out ingredients, Andy filled the cups and then walked over to the table and sat down. She looked out the window at the yard, still heavily blanketed in snow, cast in the blue light of early morning. And at the headlights making their way up the driveway.

"Um, what time did Sarah say they'd be back today?"

Sam glanced at her. "I think her exact words were, 'as soon as fu...'" He shot a look over at Jake who was watching him with a toothy grin. "'As soon as possible.' Why?"

Andy shrugged. "I think they just pulled in."

"What?" He walked over and bent to peer outside. "It's not even 8 AM." Shaking his head, he walked back over to the counter and plugged in the electric griddle. He was in the middle of mixing up the first batch when the door opened. Jake was out of the room in a shot and Andy rubbed her feet together as cold air began to move into the room.

In a minute or two, Sarah walked into the room, trailed by Jake and Cooper who was carrying an infant car seat tented with a light green quilted cover. He set it on the table and Andy heard the rip of Velcro as he pulled the front of the covering down. Unable to help herself, she sat up taller in her chair, leaning in to get another look at Carly. She was blinking against the dim light in the kitchen, squirming as she did her best to work her fist towards her open mouth. Jake pulled up a chair next to Andy and knelt on it as he too, watched the baby.

Sarah walked up to Sam and he slipped an arm around her, giving her a quick squeeze in the middle of pouring pancakes onto the hot griddle.

"Couldn't stand it anymore, huh? You didn't run anyone over on your way out the door, did you?"

Sarah elbowed him. "They said I could leave, so I left. No one was permanently injured," she finished with a grin.

Across from Andy, Cooper sank down heavily into the last open chair.

"Are you okay?" she asked, frowning a little. He looked exhausted. Way more tired than Sarah who was practically crackling with energy as she moved around the room.

As he yawned once, he nodded. "Yeah. It'll just be nice to sleep without a nurse coming in every hour." He reached out and pulled Sarah down onto his knee. "I don't know how you're even conscious right now," he said, putting his chin on her shoulder.

She turned her head a little. "It's an act, trust me. Leave me in a quiet room for two minutes and I'll be out." Then she looked away, across the table at Jake, and reached out to smooth a cowlick, running her hand over his head. "How was last night? Did you guys have fun?"

Jake shot a look at her. "Andy tried to burn the house down." Sarah's face split in a wide grin and Cooper laughed softly into her shoulder.

"Traitor," Andy mumbled as she brought the mug up to her lips.

"It wasn't that bad," Sam said as he set a stack of plates on the counter, followed by the bottle of syrup and the butter dish. "But I killed your smoke detector." He put half a dozen flapjacks onto a plate and waved Jake over. "You two already ate, I'm guessing."

Sarah nodded, attention on the baby. "Yeah, the smallest bowl of oatmeal I've ever seen. Load me up a plate."

* * *

><p>The five of them ate quickly, Sam and Andy leaning up against the kitchen counter while the Laffertys sat around the table, the baby sitting in the center. And then Cooper and Sarah took Carly with them into the bedroom to try to get a little more sleep while Andy, Jake and Sam did a quick job of straightening up the kitchen and the living room. After they folded the couch back up, Jake got back to business with his video game and they rotated through the shower. For the rest of the morning, they all sat together, taking turns on the Kinect. Cooper moved the television onto the dining room table and shifted everything around in that room to give them a wider, deeper area of play. By noon, all the adults were exhausted, but tireless, Jake called over to the neighbors and then he and Sam disappeared to go snowmobiling. Glad to finally get a moment to herself, Andy stretched out on the pull-out. From there, she could see the television in the dining room and she got on her stomach and started clicking through the channels.<p>

Of course, it was only five minutes later that she heard the baby start to cry in the other room. The noise quieted quickly, and then maybe a half hour after that, right as Andy was nodding off in the middle of some lawyer show, Sarah wandered out, a towel over her shoulder, Carly wide awake and pressed against her. As Sarah went to her side of the living room, Andy got up and went over to sit next to her. The yellow hat had disappeared, and like her mother, the baby had a rather healthy crop of black hair covering her head.

"Did she get hungry?"

Sarah nodded, holding Carly up to her shoulder, rubbing her back slowly. "Yeah. Poor Cooper. The guy sat straight up in bed the second she started crying. I don't think he slept longer than thirty minutes at a stretch all night. You'd think he'd never done this before." She cupped the back of her head, holding her securely as she shifted on the couch. "God, I'm uncomfortable. If I could spend the next week lying down instead of sitting, things would be a whole lot better."

Andy smirked and reached out, running a finger over the soft black hair and over a chubby cheek. At her touch, Carly started moving her head, eyes landing on Andy as her mouth opened and closed. "So, how was it? I mean really?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Why? You thinking about it?"

"No." The word was out in an instant, and immediately, Sarah's lips curved into a smile. "At least not for a while," Andy amended, pulling her knees up to her chest.

Sarah leaned back against the couch, hand still stroking slowly over Carly's back. "Did you ever smoke? Cigarettes?" Andy shook her head. "I used to. In my twenties. A pack a day for six years. Not that long, but long enough. When I quit, it was brutal. For years, I said it was one of the hardest things a person could do to themself. And then one day, I thought about it, and I could remember it being awful, but I couldn't remember exactly _how it felt_, you know? Like _why_ it was so hard." She took a deep breath and looked at Andy. "I remember craving it, and remember panicking, thinking if I could just get one more drag… Maybe I wouldn't be so stressed, you know? But I don't actually remember how it _felt_ to crave it. Not really. It used to just take me over, my entire body. And now?" She shrugged. "I just get a hint of it every now and again." She moved the baby, setting her down on her lap. "Anyway, I'm really hoping childbirth is like that. Like you remember it being hard, but maybe you develop this blind spot. Like maybe you forget exactly how much it sucks," she said with a grin.

"That bad, huh?"

Sarah took another deep breath. "Bad enough so that I can't imagine voluntarily doing it again anytime soon." She brushed her knuckle against Carly's cheek and smiled as her head turned a little, mouth open and searching. "Then again…." She glanced over and saw Andy's eyes glued to the baby. "You wanna hold her?"

"Yeah, sure." Andy moved her legs, put her feet on the floor, and then Sarah passed her the baby, tucking in the end of the blanket. Andy traced the curve of a tiny ear with her fingertip and smiled as Carly's eyelids began to sag.

"Are you sure you're not thinking about it?" Sarah asked with a smile.

Andy looked at her out of the corner of her eye and then away again. "I _really_ don't think we're there yet. We still have a couple of steps in between."

"You ever talk about it?"

Again, Andy glanced at her, and then, she pushed herself up off the couch, walking with Carly over to the window to look at the lake. "We've mentioned it. Nothing serious though." She started swaying, cupping her hand under the baby's head, feeling the softness of her hair under her fingers. "I think we're kind of comfortable the way we are," she said. "And I'm still kind of new at my job. It probably wouldn't be a good time."

When she turned towards her, Sarah was watching her curiously. "Everyone's gotta move forward eventually. Ten years ago, I didn't think I'd ever be here. With Cooper, in this house, with these kids." She grinned. "Trust me. You don't want to wait too long." She let out another big yawn and then stood up. "I think I'm gonna try to get some more sleep. I can take her back, if you want."

Andy smiled. "Go back to bed. I'll bring her in when she falls asleep." Sarah leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to Carly's forehead, and then rubbed her hand over Andy's arm. Then she turned away and started walking away. "Wait," Andy said. Sarah looked back at her. "There's something I wanted to ask you about." When they were standing next to each other again, Andy looked at her. "You guys talked to Jake, right? I mean, about how things would be once you had the baby?"

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, a few times. Why?"

Andy lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "I think he's a little worried about being replaced."

Sarah made a dismissive face. "All kids worry about that."

Andy gave her another shrug. "He just seemed a little upset last night."

Sarah had her hands on her hips and Andy watched as she tapped her fingers against her thigh, thinking it over. "What did he say?"

"Just that since you have Carly, you and Cooper might not want him here anymore."

Sarah made a face and shook her head a little. "I swear… He's like 94% Cooper and 6% Alyssa, but the part he got from her is just neurotic as hell. That kid worries about things you couldn't even imagine." She pulled her lower lip through her teeth as her eyes focused over Andy's shoulder. She had a faraway look in her eyes as she turned it around in her mind. Finally, she gave a little nod, more to herself than Andy. "We'll talk to him again. And again, and again." She smiled a ruefully at Andy. "Don't worry. We'll fix it," she said simply, her tone leaving absolutely no room for failure. And then she turned and left the room without another word.

As she walked around the living room slowly, bouncing just slightly, Andy cuddled the baby closer, rubbing her nose over the little cap of dark hair. Carly was barely awake, fighting sleep hard as she yawned and her eyelids fluttered. Andy suddenly realized that there was something outrageously addicting about babies, even for someone who didn't really spend much time around them. That weight in your arms, the knowledge that for a time, this little life was dependent on your ability to care for them, to protect them. Again, she rubbed her nose over the soft skin of Carly's head.

At the contact, the baby suddenly squirmed a little and at the disruption, Andy felt her heart dip a little, a sickening wave of panic as she tried to keep a good grip on her. She held Carly close to her chest as she quieted down and as Andy's pulse returned to normal she had a very brief, very strong flash of relief that she was on the pill, that she could practically set a watch to the mechanics of her body. She wasn't ready for this.

After another fifteen minutes, when she was sure Carly was asleep, Andy walked slowly, quietly through the house and gave the bedroom door a small push. It swung wide, and she stepped in. Sarah and Cooper were curved together on the bed. He was on his side, and when Sarah got in next to him, he must have reached for her, pulling her close. She was on her back, face turned toward him, and his hand was large, covering the point of her hip, holding her to him. Her hand was against his ribs and his face was pressed into her hair, into the mass of curls spread over the pillow. For a second, Andy just looked at them, and then, when the baby shifted a little in her arms, she turned away and laid her in the bassinette. She smoothed the blanket over her, and then walked back out of the room, closing the door behind her.

* * *

><p>While they slept, Andy went back to the kitchen and finished cleaning up. The breakfast dishes were still in the sink, as were the bowls and beaters used the night before. Outside, she saw Sam and Jake moving around the yard, adjusting the hay bales, stringing lights around the yard. One thing about weekends with the Laffertys, they were never boring. It made sense that holidays wouldn't be any different.<p>

The kitchen didn't take long, and after that, she didn't really have anything to do. The presents had been stacked under the tree, she and Sam had done a reasonably fair job of clearing the living room. And the house was suddenly far too quiet. She went to the entry and pulled her boots and coat on and went outside. She walked the path that had been shoveled between the house and the garage and poked her head in, startling Jake and Sam as they picked through the stuff in the storage area.

"Need any help?"

Sam waved her over. "Definitely. We've got a lot of work to do before dark." He started passing things to Jake, trying to get to a box lodged way in the back.

"I think you'd better tell me more about this snowball fight," Andy said as she watched Sam pull the shovel out.

He started talking over his shoulder. "It's not exactly a snowball fight. Remember how the entire lake came out for Cooper's birthday?" She nodded. "Well, they all get together for things like that, and holidays, and maybe ten years ago, they started holding a snowman-building contest. They always had it the weekend before Christmas. Just something for the kids. The winner got a couple of free movie passes. No big deal. Well, the year Sarah and Cooper moved in, someone, and I'm not saying who," he added with a pointed look, "stole the hat off the winning snowman. And it started this huge war that turned into a sort of spur of the moment game of capture the flag." He tossed her a shovel and she set it against her shoulder as he pulled down the carton and started looking through it. "So last year, all the adults got together before the contest and decided that in addition to building the snowmen, they'd have a real game of capture the flag, with snowballs. It's ridiculous."

"Sounds like fun."

Jake nodded enthusiastically. "It's awesome! Last year Mrs. Paulson gave Mr. Paulson a bloody nose." Andy laughed when she saw the look on Jake's face.

"That _was_ funny," Sam agreed with a grin. As he saw Andy's raised eyebrow, his expression sobered. "But not very nice. Don't do that," he warned, pointing at Jake. "Anyway," he continued. "The game is strung out across three yards. Sarah volunteered this yard of course, since it's so big. And there's an age limit. They started it at 12, but last year, Sarah got them to drop it to 10, so Jake could play. The only thing is, after it gets dark, all the kids under 16 have to sit out, so no one gets hurt. At least none of the kids," he said flashing a grin as he threw several heavy coils of lights to Jake. He tossed a few to Andy and she slung them over her shoulders.

"So last year…"

"Was the second official year. And Sarah's kind of like one of the founders so it's probably killing her to not do it this year."

"And what are we doing now?" She held up the shovel in question.

He nodded and she turned around and walked out of the garage. "Now, we're setting up the lights to outline the playing field. Each yard does their own lights and barricades. Cooper already started," he said, pointing to several stacks of hay bales. He checked his watch. "We've got a lot to do before the game starts."

* * *

><p>It took the rest of the afternoon. By the time they finished, the entire yard was outlined in strings of large-bulbed colorful lights, from the edge of the trees behind the garage to the lake shore. Andy and Jake moved around, stock-piling secret caches of snowballs. She also pulled Sam's truck up, creating a large area of cover between the garage and the stand of bare trees. Then they pulled a few empty pallets out from behind Sarah's studio and leaned them together, creating a sort of hideout. By the time they went in to get something to eat, Sarah and Cooper were up and moving around, and they only had about an hour before the game started. They all put away double-thick turkey sandwiches, handfuls of chips, and large glasses of milk, and then Sam, Andy, Jake and Cooper all went to get dressed.<p>

Andy had to borrow clothes from Sarah, since she hadn't exactly planned on a rough and tumble game out in the snow. She layered thermal pants and a sweat-wicking camisole under a long sleeved thermal shirt, a pair of heavy jeans and a sweater, and then buttoned her black wool coat up over the top. On her hands, she wore black gloves and she crammed a black watch cap down over her head. Moving back to the living room, she joined the rest of the players, noticing that they were all dressed the same. Like they were about to burglarize a very cold bank; black from head to toe, fat with layers of clothing.

Cooper and Jake went out first and then Andy followed Sam out of the house. The sun wasn't quite setting, but it was getting close. The four of them slogged through the snow, cutting across the yard, and through a couple dozen trees until they joined a huge group of people in the next yard. It seemed like all six families from around the lake had turned out, along with their relatives. Easily forty people. Some were standing away from the group though. Adults corralling smaller children. They wouldn't be playing. Andy scanned the heads. If she subtracted all of them, it brought the total down closer to thirty.

They forced their way to the front of the crowd, and Cooper put his gloved hands on Jake's shoulders and stood behind him, nodding at the man standing in the center of the group.

Sam leaned over to Andy, hat brushing hers. "Remember him from the party?" Barely. She was sure she'd been introduced, but she'd met a lot of people that day. "Steve Freeman. He's the one that helped Sarah work out the rules for the game. Retired military," he said with a wink.

"Trust Sarah," she muttered, shaking her head.

"Alright people." Freeman's voice was loud, booming even, and the voices around her died down as he spoke. "We all know how this works. Two teams; each team gets a flag. First team to cross into their safe zone with the opposing team's flag wins. We play best out of three. Here are the rules. If you get hit five times, you go to jail. We're on the honor system here, so no lying, Jim." He pointed at a short bald man wearing glasses and a stocking cap and the group laughed. "No ice balls, no rocks, no head shots, no shots below the belt. If you get tagged by hand, you go to jail. Anyone in jail will stay there until one of your teammate comes to rescue you." He started moving his arms. "The course is outlined with the strings of lights. In each yard, we have one referee. Referees raise your hands." Andy looked around. There were three older people dressed in hunting orange vests over their winter coats. "These will be your judges on all disputes. So suck up to them." The crowd laughed. "Anyone found outside the boundaries is out of the game. Bathroom breaks are allowed, but make them quick. Sundown is at about 5:00, which is in about a ten minutes, so the time limit for everyone under 16 is 6:00. After that, adults only. Any questions?"

"What are the teams?" a few people yelled.

Freeman grinned. "By popular vote, this year, the teams are….men versus women. Gentlemen, your flag will be in the Lafferty's yard. Women, in the Paulson's. You have five minutes to come up with a strategy, and then we start. Go." Andy suddenly felt her heart racing and Sam gave her a gentle shove over to where the women were suddenly congregating. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but the women seemed to be just as gung-ho as the men, if not more. They were huddling around, their whispers loud and purposeful. Someone saw her coming and made a break in the ring and she stepped in, feeling the warmth of more than a dozen bodies surrounding her.

It was decided that two of the younger girls would guard the jail until dark, and then they would reassess. An older woman who looked to be in decent shape volunteered to guard the flag with her daughter, a girl home from college. She grinned at Andy as they were introduced. A pitcher on her school's softball team.

Andy was designated as a runner. She'd be one of the twelve left to go for the flag and to rescue people from the jail. However, she was also one of three designated scouts. Each team got to put their flag wherever they wanted, and since she knew Cooper's yard, and knew all the hiding spots, she was the best to go. The women's flag would be stuck to a birdhouse near the Paulson's garage on the other side of the house, while their jail would be closer to the middle yard. And then a whistle blew and the group broke apart.

Andy looked around, heart pounding as the game began and she saw Sam flash her a grin as he took off behind Cooper and Jake for the Lafferty's. The other two scouts called to her, and the three of them split up; one followed the lights down near the shoreline, one followed the lights up on the top yard, and Andy found herself cutting right through the middle, skirting through the shadows of the houses and trees. As she paused behind a bush, she reached down and packed four snow balls, sticking them in her pockets for easy reach, and made up two more, holding them in her hands. Then she took off.

She was at a disadvantage because it was still mostly light out. The sun was quickly sinking, but they still had forty-five minutes before full dark. All she had to do was stay out of the line of fire until then. She started weaving slowly between trees, taking the time to calm herself behind a huge pine. She peered around it and spotted a couple of teenage boys standing near the steps of Sarah's deck. Amber, one of the girls on her team, sidled up next to her and they counted silently and started throwing snowballs. As soon as they were hit, the boys whirled around, taking another couple in the chest. They tried to bend, to pick up the pile of snowballs they'd stacked at their feet, but they took too long and within seconds, they were both hit five times.

"You're out, Mason," yelled Amber, loud enough so the referee around the corner came by and took a look. She hooked her thumb at the two boys and they both swore under their breath and stalked away towards the jail in the Paulson's yard. The referee glanced over her shoulder and then called to them.

"Hey Amber, I think it's on the other side of the house."

"Thanks, Mom!" Andy laughed and she and Amber ran down the hill and around the house. They climbed back up the hill behind the retaining wall and Andy froze, crouching in the shadows behind the bushes as she heard deep voices approaching. After a moment, they passed and she led Amber down the narrow path between the house and the bushes. As they came around to the top yard, Andy's arm swung out in front of Amber, holding her back, and then she pointed.

Stuck in the vee of two large branches of one of the flowering crab trees was a day-glo green piece of fabric, a little larger than a slice of pizza.

"We gotta go back," Andy said.

Amber pointed in the other direction, near the garage. "We should try to get someone out though." There were maybe four of their teammates already cooling their heels in jail.

"Once we get there, we get to walk back free and clear, right?"

"Yeah, we just have to hold onto whoever we rescue and we get to cross back over." Andy nodded and glanced around. The yard was suspiciously clear. And then she saw movement about three meters away. It wasn't much, and it wasn't obvious, but behind one of the stacks of bales was at least one person, lying in wait.

"We'll never make it," she said in a whisper.

"Sure we will. Watch this." Amber leaned back and launched a snowball high in the air. Andy watched as it came down right behind the stack of bales. On cue, two men shot up and started yelling.

"Hey, no head shots!" Andy grinned and hurled her own snowball, catching one of them square in the chest before they both ducked back down. And then she saw a couple of other women circling behind the studio.

"Quick, let's keep them watching us," Andy said and took off, running quickly, weaving through the trees. She could hear Amber crashing behind her, and she grunted as she caught one snowball hard in the thigh. But they reached the safety of Sam's truck before either of them were hit again. And as she peered around the end, she saw her teammates leading two of the jailed prisoners to safety.

She still hadn't seen Cooper or Jake. As big as Cooper was, the guy could move. He was shockingly agile; as was his son. But the really alarming thing was that _Sam_ was nowhere to be seen. The ex-military guy might be a planner, but Sam was an action man. If there was about to be a raid on their team, he'd be leading it. She was sure.

"We need to go back," she said again, suddenly realizing that this yard was far too quiet. "There's no one here. They're going after our side."

"I think we should go for the flag," Amber said. "They only have those two guys behind the bales, and Jim watching the flag. The two over by the jail couldn't get to us in time, and Jim's a bad shot." Andy squatted down next to the tire and crawled over to the end of the truck, looking around. There was Cooper. He was flat up against the far wall of the garage, on the side nearest the road, and Jake was peeking around him, trying to see what was happening in the yard.

The sun was gone, but there was still a touch of dusk left. The shadows were growing, lengthening the darker it got. Her breath was coming out in thick puffs, and she was getting colder the longer she stayed still. But she didn't see anyone else. So the question was, could they grab the flag and get through the yard without getting hit or tagged? They'd have to cross the rest of the Lafferty's lot, and the yard in the middle to get back to their safe zone.

But she'd been thinking about it too long; standing still too long. She suddenly felt a sting on her hip as she was smacked hard with a snowball. She shot up from her crouch and ducked around the other side of the truck, backing up into Amber as she heard her assailant approaching. She was tempted to duck underneath the bed, but if she was found, that was it. She blew out a breath and looked at Amber and shrugged.

"Screw it." They both took off, sprinting at the flag. The bald guy wasn't expecting them and so when they snatched it and ran from behind him, he let out a yell, calling his comrades. Andy stuffed the flag down inside her coat and booked it across the snow, ducking between trees. Behind her, she heard Amber go down as she tripped over something and she glanced back, but kept running. And then she stopped short. Right in front of her, stood Sam, holding a tightly packed snowball in each hand.

She got down low, legs spread for balance, and she grinned. But she heard people coming up behind her.

"Andy!" Off to her left, she saw another one of her teammates, a pretty young girl with braids, and she reached into her coat and pulled out the flag, handing it off. The girl took off, a half dozen boys and men on her trail as she streaked through the trees. But Sam didn't move. He just grinned at Andy and they began circling each other. As some of the guys approached, Sam waved them off, taking his eyes off Andy just long enough for her to pull her last snowball from her pocket and hurl it at him. She caught him in the shoulder and then took off, ponytail swinging behind her.

He caught her of course, tackling her into a hip-tall snowbank. She was stuck on her back, unable to push herself up, unable to push _him_ up and she fought him as he laughed, reached out and got a handful of powdery snow and rubbed it in her face.

"Asshole!" she grunted. She bucked under him, feeling him press her deeper into the snow as he covered her body. As if of their own will, her legs opened a little, and Andy was beginning to realize that as cold as it was, the snow at her back was doing nothing to cool her insides. It was the competitiveness of the game; it had to be. It wouldn't be the first time a contest between the two of them had affected her this way. Or maybe it was simply the way he'd gotten her so helpless on her back. Or maybe it was the way he was wedged so intimately between her thighs. Whatever the cause, she knew that _this_ game had only just begun.

The way he was rubbing against her didn't feel deliberate. Not exactly. They were struggling, after all; her trying to protect her face from another handful of snow, and him trying to keep her from getting ahold of him, both laughing the entire time. But even through the layers, the pressure building between them was starting a slow burn inside her; and she could tell that it was affecting him too. The way he was pressing against her began to take on a sort of unexpected rhythm. Her breath was coming hard and fast, and she suddenly _knew_ that if she didn't move, she would end up embarrassing herself right there in front of God and everyone. Besides, they had another game to finish first.

She changed her tactics, slowed her struggles, and grabbed a fistful of his jacket. And then she pulled him to her. As his mouth loomed closer, she arched, kissing him hard. Only a few seconds passed before she felt the snowballs in his hand fall into piles near her head, and then his hands were behind her head and back, lifting her, pulling her up against him.

Her legs buckled a little as her feet found purchase on the ground, but then she was standing, mouth still being devoured by Sam's, and she clutched at his jacket with both hands, turning them slowly. And then suddenly, she pulled away, and shoved. Hard.

Already a little off balance, he fell back into the depression left by her body, and then he kicked like a turtle flipped onto its back and she took off. She was maybe six meters away before she heard his cursing stop and heavy footfalls begin as he chased her. Ahead of her, on the right was Sarah's studio. If she could just make it there, she might have a fighting chance. Plus, it she knew it was heated, so she might be able to warm up a little before she had to head out again.

Andy burst through the door to the studio, out of breath, wet hair plastered to her face. Somewhere in the fight, she'd lost her hat, probably when Sam had rubbed that last handful of snow in her face. She heard him hit the outside wall of the shed and her eyes flew around looking for something to defend herself with. Her gaze landed on the shelf that held the paint and quickly, she dropped her coat on the floor and kicked it under the table. As her hand closed around a large bottle of green acrylic, she heard the door swing shut behind her.

She whirled and faced him, grinning nervously as he stepped closer. They stood a few meters from each other, Sarah's pottery wheel in between them. Sam was smirking, like maybe he thought he'd already won. He had two snowballs left and was tossing one up in the air a short ways, catching it on its way down.

"Time to surrender, McNally. There's nowhere left to go."

"I wouldn't throw that in here if I were you. If you make a mess, Sarah will murder you." She held the paint bottle behind her back and flipped open the cap as they circled the wheel.

"I think I can handle Sarah." He feinted right and as she moved to her right, he swung back around to the left, coming up right in front of her.

He banded an arm around her waist tightly, holding her up against him in an iron grip as he held the snowball in front of her face.

"Just give in," he said with a huge grin. Her arm moved up, around his neck and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What're you… What the fuck?" He let go of her, and she sprung away as his hand went to the back of his neck and came back smeared with green. His eyes shot back to her and she held up the bottle of paint and waggled her eyebrows at him. "You are dead," he growled.

He hurled one snowball at her, making her squeak as it smacked her hard on the hip, and then as she danced around the island counter top, he threw the other one, noting with some concern that after it grazed her shoulder, it knocked over a few bottles on Sarah's shelf.

As Andy grabbed a second bottle of paint, Sam tossed his coat into the corner and started going for the shelf with the paint. She stood in front of it, bottles held in her fists, ready to defend her corner. When he moved towards it, she stepped closer, tongue caught between her teeth as her ponytail swished back and forth.

Suddenly, he straightened from his crouch and held his hands up. "Fine. You got me." She didn't move. Didn't even quirk an eyebrow. He took a casual step forward and she advanced, shifting her feet carefully. Even as her grip tightened on the bottle of purple, his hand snaked out, lightning quick and snatched it from her. Now they both had one.

"Don't even think about it," she hissed.

"Um, my neck is green. Trust me, I'll do more than think about it."

"This is my good sweater," she warned with a grin.

He looked at her in disbelief. "That sweater cost four dollars at the thrift store. Remember? You made me buy for you?"

She shrugged and the grin widened. "You can be sweet sometimes. Now, not being one of them." She snatched a bottle of yellow, and they began circling around the island.

His eyes were glittering at her, still dark. And the way he was smiling was familiar. She'd seen that expression a lot; purposeful, determined, with a hint of lust. Sam glanced at the bottle in his hand, reading the label. "What're you doing?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

He smirked. "Just making sure it's non-toxic."

"I'm afraid to ask."

He shrugged. "I just got this image of you wearing it. And nothing else." That shut her up. Now the picture was in her head and she could tell by the way his grin widened that Sam knew it. "Take off the sweater."

"No way," she laughed.

"C'mon, McNally, be a team player." She raised a single eyebrow and shook her head. "Okay, I'll go first." He reached back and dragged his thermal and sweatshirt up over his head, and tossed them into the corner. As soon as the clothing hit the ground, she reached out with one arm and squeezed a stream of paint at him. As the yellow dripped down the center of his chest, he looked back up at her. "I'm not going to ask you again."

"You're gonna have to make me," she replied snottily and then backed away from the island, paint still in hand. He snatched his bottle of purple and followed her away from the island to the more empty side of the studio. Paintings were leaned against the wall in stacks, backs facing out. In the corner, a white canvas tarp was thrown over a stack of boxes, and Andy was headed that direction, towards the corner.

He smirked, flipping the top button on his jeans.

"Oh, you're awfully sure of yourself," she teased.

He ran his tongue over his teeth. "This is a done deal, McNally. It's war. If you want to save your clothes, now's the time to lose 'em." Sam kicked off his shoes, then his socks and finally, dropped his pants to the floor, leaving him standing in a pair of boxer briefs, holding a large bottle of paint. A formidable opponent.

She blew out a heavy breath and then quirked an eyebrow. "Give me a second?" He held up his hands in a truce. She shook her head. "I cannot believe I'm doing this," she muttered.

"Sure you can, sweetheart," he said smugly.

Her hands stilled at the hem of her shirt and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Whenever you call me that, you have this tone. It makes me just want to…" She sucked in a breath through her teeth and shook her head. "It makes me want to punch you in the face," she said with a grin.

"Foreplay?" he joked. She rolled her eyes and pinned the two bottles between her thighs and whipped off the sweater and the thermal. Underneath, she wore a camisole, one of those things with the bra built in. He felt a pang of disappointment when she didn't move to take it off. She kept her eye on him as she set the bottles on the floor, kicked off her boots, and started unbuttoning her jeans. Her ponytail was sagging, pieces escaping the elastic, and her hair was falling messily over her shoulders and back. One good tug, he thought. One good tug, and her hair would be loose, and that grapey berry smell would float over him… Her eyes met his as she looked at him through her lashes and his mouth went a little dry.

This was supposed to be war; serious combat. But at that look, he knew all it would take was one touch of her mouth, and he'd surrender; let her win over and over again. And then her jeans and the long underwear dropped into a pile on the floor and she glared at him, picking up her weapons again. Inching closer, they faked and bobbed, each trying to get a leg up on the other. They stood not even six feet from each other and finally, Andy dropped into a crouch and held a bottle out in front of her, squeezing it one-handed with all her might. As the stream of green hit him in the thigh, he rushed her, clasping her around the waist and picking her up against him.

She laughed triumphantly as her arms went around his neck and he felt paint run down his back. And then the bottles fell to the floor, and her hands slid over his slippery skin, nails digging in for traction as he lifted her up onto the countertop. Her hands moved down over his shoulders, trailing green and yellow lines down his chest, over his abs. Sam pushed her hands away and then tugged the camisole over her head, leaving her bare to the waist.

At some point, the purple had spilled over the top of the bottle and covered his hands, and so when he ran his hands up her waist, and over her breasts, it made two large swathes in an hourglass shape. Her hands moved up his neck and into his hair, rubbing hard at his scalp as his mouth sank down on to her throat. He hooked his fingers in the waistband of her underwear and gave it a sharp tug, and she wiggled, helping him free it from underneath her. And then there were trails of purple and green and yellow moving up her legs, from ankles to thighs. He lifted her a little, setting her on the edge of the counter and then leaned close, teeth scraping at the curve of a breast.

"Remember the other day when I said I like the faces you make?" he mumbled against her skin.

"Mmhmm…" She had her lips pressed together, breath coming hard and fast through her nose as she leaned back on her hands.

"Well, there's this one I'd really like to see." He gripped her hips hard, tilting them, causing her to lean back on her elbows. "Where your hair is kind of all over the place…" He reached up and pulled the binder from her hair. "And your eyes are… Well, kind of like they are now, actually." Her eyes were dark with lust, lids at half-mast in anticipation. "And your mouth, it's kind of open, but when I do this…" He hitched her leg over his shoulder and dipped his head to her inner thigh, sucking in a little skin, running his teeth over it. Then he looked up at her and grinned. "That's the look." Her teeth were sunk deep into her lip and her eyes were hot and on him. Then he moved a little closer to center, and her head fell back a little. And when he finally put his mouth on her, she shoved her hips at him, and he laughed against her, causing her to do it again.

At this point, he knew it wouldn't take her long; it never did. And so he teased her, drawing it out, brought her to the brink and then moved away, again and again. Finally, he straightened and reached for her. Sam was grinning against her neck when she groaned in complaint and hitched her legs around him, holding him hard against her. He tucked his hands under her butt and lifted her, loving the weight of her as she wrapped around him, hot and slick, and nearly boneless. He carried her to the corner and grasped the end of the tarp and whipped it off the boxes, letting it settle onto the floor. And then he knelt down, laid her out on it, and started all over again.

* * *

><p>An hour or so later, Andy was up on an elbow, dipping a finger into a blob of paint. She traced a finger over the tacky paint on Sam's back. In the last few minutes, she'd painted a flower, a lightning bolt, a smiley face.<p>

"Now what am I drawing?" she asked quietly, a huge grin plastered on her face. It had been stuck there for maybe a half hour. Never for a second dropping in intensity.

"The Mona Lisa," he mumbled as he laid his cheek on his folded arms and stared at her.

She smacked gently him, leaving a purple handprint right in the middle of her work. "I'm writing my name. Branding you." She dragged her fingers around her name in a circle, effectively making five messy circles. He was already pretty covered. As was she. By the time he'd finished with her, she had hand prints from head to toe. She even had streaks of it in her hair and on her face. It was only fair that she repaid him.

"So you own me, huh?" he asked with a grin.

She shrugged. "At least until the paint washes off." Then she leaned in and pressed her mouth against his, once, then again. When she pulled back he made a noise of complaint, but she turned on her side, facing away from him and scooped her hair out of the way. "Do me now."

"I thought I just did," he said with a grin as he slid a large hand over her waist and rubbed his nose between her shoulder blades.

"C'mon," she said with a laugh. He reached over her head and stuck his finger into the paint and then drew his arm back and in big letters, covering the entire expanse of her back, he printed his name. And then, for good measure, he wrote it a few more times, smaller in the open spaces.

"There." His mouth touched her shoulder, dropping a kiss onto it and he pulled her into him. She rolled over onto her back and he leaned up and over her. His hands were slower this time as they traveled up her skin, over rainbow lines of dried paint.

_He looked a little silly_, she thought, with his hair spiked up stiffly with green and yellow paint, touches of purple at the ends where he'd brushed her stomach with his head. Of course it was smeared in streaks across his face, as it was across hers. It was enough to make her laugh as his mouth dipped to hers. Then he settled back on his elbow and rubbed his hand over her middle.

His eyes followed his fingers as they travelled lazily over her skin, and she touched his face, turning it so he was looking at her. "Something wrong?" Slowly, he shook his head. "Well, I know you hate it when people ask you this, but why do you look so serious?"

The corner of his mouth lifted in a small smile, and then he quirked an eyebrow. "Just got some stuff on my mind I guess." Then his mouth widened in a grin as his eyes fell to a smear high on her breast that looked distinctively hand-shaped. He bent and pressed his mouth to it for a second and then as her hand moved to the back of his neck, he looked up at her. "I was wondering something," he said suddenly, smiling at her a little differently than he had been.

"Whoa! Sorry." Andy's head tipped back and when she caught sight of Cooper standing just inside the doorway, she started scrambling. But Sam was quicker. He flipped the end of the tarp up over them and Andy pulled it up over her head, mortified.

"Hey, man, it's called knocking," Sam said loudly. Andy peeked out from under the tarp.

Cooper was still fully dressed in his snow gear, and he was turned away from them, facing the wall. He held his hands up. "Hey, man," he repeated sarcastically. "I_ own_ this building. And there are kids running around all over the place. At least lock the door." Sam rolled his eyes. "Look, Sarah just asked me to find you guys for dinner."

"Whoa!" Andy's eyes shifted to the door and she huddled farther under the tarp when she saw Jake standing in the doorway. Cooper turned at the sound of his son's voice, reached out and, in an instant, covered Jake's eyes with a gloved hand. He dragged him back against his body and kept his eyes on the ceiling.

"Anyway, um, the game's over; the girls totally smoked us. Sarah's freaking out. Oh, and uh, Andy?"

"Yeah?" she called from under the tarp.

"Not that I'd know or anything, but if you don't want to have to cut your hair, you should probably get in the shower as quick as you can." He paused as she gave a squeak and slapped a hand to her paint-smeared head. As he heard the rustle of the tarp, Cooper gave a nod. "Okay. See you inside."

Andy stayed under the tarp until she heard the door shut solidly behind them, and then she flipped it back and scrambled to her feet. Sam laid back and grinned as she moved quickly, dragging her jeans and sweater on, shoving her underwear and camisole in the pocket of her coat.

"Well that clears up one question," he said as he watched her move frantically around the studio.

"What's that?" she muttered, only half listening.

"One time I came out here, Cooper had his head shaved." Andy's head snapped up in surprise. "It was like a quarter inch all the way around." A laugh exploded out of her as she stuck her feet into her boots, jerking the laces hard. She raised her eyebrows.

"Aren't you coming?"

Sam pushed himself up off the floor. "Go ahead. I'll uh…" He glanced around. "I was going to say I'd clean up, but um…" Andy looked around. There was paint everywhere. Smears of it on the concrete, on the countertop she'd sat on, the tarp was loaded with it. And most of it was already dry.

"She's gonna kill us," Andy moaned. And then she remembered the paint dried in her hair. She brought her hand up to her head and it got stuck as she tried to finger comb through her hair. "I gotta go," she croaked. And then she ducked out the door, leaving him there laughing as he watched her scamper across the yard.


	4. Chapter 4

** Incredibly Long Author's Note: Okay, so this is the last chapter. It's possible I'm working out an epilogue, since it cuts off a little abruptly at the end, and I kind of had this whole other scene planned... Anyway, we'll get to that when we get to that. Also, I feel the need to remind people that this story is a gift for a friend; it's all in good fun. **

**I want to thank everyone for reading this, and apologize again for the over-the-top-ness of the whole paint/sex thing. It was a scene I'd originally planned for Sarah and Cooper, but since I wasn't sure when we'd all be coming back to the lake house, I thought I'd better use it while I had the chance. And honestly, the thought of not using it was killing me.**

**Probably you've realized by now that in this story, nothing goes according to plan. This chapter is no exception. For those of you who've expressed concern with S/A getting busy where there are children present, rest assured this is also a concern of mine, but uh... I think I'm with the majority when I say that they probably just do it all the time and literally can't help themselves. Sorry about that.**

**As a side note: I know you have all probably forgotten about The Witness. But I have two chapters very close to completion and am getting help figuring out a character map to help you remember who everyone is :) Merry (Late) Christmas. Also, this should serve as a warning...Ch 7 is absurdly long. So maybe mentally prepare yourself.**

* * *

><p>When Sam walked into the house twenty minutes later, Andy was sitting in her flannel PJ's in a chair in the kitchen with a towel wrapped over her shoulders, a bowl of spaghetti cupped in her hand, and Sarah was doing her best to get a comb through her hair. Her eyes rose to her brother and she shook her head.<p>

"You're an idiot."

His eyebrows shot up. "Hey, she started it."

"You better still love me when I'm bald," Andy grumbled, pulling apart a thick section of hair still streaked with purple.

"You're not going to be bald." Sarah set the comb down and went to the cupboard. "We're going to try one more thing." She took down a bottle of olive oil. She rubbed a thick layer of oil over the comb and started again. This time, it slid a little easier. "Aha... works every time."

Andy snickered. "Every time, huh?" She glanced up as Cooper popped his head in and immediately avoided Andy's eyes, looking at Sarah.

"Carly's down, Jake's in bed." He turned to Sam. "By the way, I just had to give my eleven-year old another talk about sex; so, thanks for making me relive that experience. He's asking for you."

Sam's eyes found Andy's and they both grinned. Cooper glanced back at Sarah. "He's asking for you too. When you're done in here, we should probably talk to him about that thing." Sam saw Sarah nod, and then saw her hand fall to Andy's shoulder and squeeze firmly, just once. Then a small smile played over Andy's lips before she shoved another forkful of spaghetti into her mouth. Sam looked at her curiously for another moment and then followed Cooper back down the hall.

* * *

><p>They split up in the hallway. Cooper went into the room he shared with Sarah, and Sam turned towards Jake's. When he entered the bedroom, Jake was still alert, playing his Nintendo DS in bed. Sam reached out and grabbed it. "You know you're not supposed to have that at bedtime."<p>

"You're no fun."

"Yeah, I hear that a lot. Lay down." Sam pulled the blankets up to his armpits and then pulled the desk chair over and sat. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I know what you and Andy were doing in Sarah's shed." No beating around the bush with this kid. There was no doubt in Sam's mind about where he'd gotten that bluntness.

"Uh…" What exactly was he supposed to say to that?

Jake was looking at him, his smirk rapidly becoming a grin.

"What's your point, kid?" Sam muttered.

"Are you getting married?"

"Did Sarah put you up to this?" He ran a hand over his head, fingers catching painfully in the parts where the paint was sticking.

"Do you always answer questions with more questions?"

Sam's eyes widened in surprise and he say back in his chair. "Did she tell you to say that too?" Jake just stared at him; owl-like, eyes wide and unblinking. Genetics were shit. The kid had far more of Sarah in him than Sam had ever realized. Finally, he just nodded. "Yeah, I guess sometimes I do."

"Well, _I_ think you should get married."

He shook his head. "I'll bet," he said wryly. "We _are_ getting married. I just uh…" Sam rolled his eyes. "I just haven't asked her yet."

"Why not?"

"Well, I'm going to. I just haven't found the right time. Plus…" He drummed his fingers against his leg. "Plus, I'm a little afraid she might say no," he admitted reluctantly.

"She won't."

He snorted. "You don't know that."

After rolling onto his side, Jake looked at him very seriously, expression full of concern. "Sarah said you should just do it already, that Andy doesn't like to stand still. She might get bored."

Sam looked at him in disbelief. "Sarah shouldn't be talking to you about that stuff. And Andy's not getting bored." He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and then leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Does she seem bored?"

Jake shrugged. "Not really. She seems happy."

Sam smiled quickly. "That's what I think too."

"Sarah said you should stop overthinking it and just ask her."

Sam stood up and replaced the chair and then leaned over and switched off the lamp. "Quit listening to Sarah. She's a bad influence. She'll get you in trouble someday."

Jake laughed.

"See you tomorrow, kid." Sam left the room, closing the door quietly behind him and started back. The shower was running in the bathroom and he moved past it into the kitchen where Sarah was cleaning up.

She glanced over at him. "You're up next." Sam sank heavily into the chair in front of her, and she put her hands in his hair; trying to pick apart the chunks that were stuck together. "Good talk?" she asked quietly.

"You're pathetic, you know that? Getting Cooper's kid to do your dirty work."

His sister snorted. "I think you should take a look in the mirror before you start throwing that word around. And he's sort of my kid too. I figure he owes me one tiny favor after eight years." She stuck the comb in at the crown of his head and he winced as she pulled. "I know you're scared she's going to say no," she said quietly. "You're so unbelievably transparent sometimes, it just kills me."

"I'm not scared."

"Fine, worried, or apprehensive, or whatever."

"I just…ow!" She muttered an apology and he felt the cold wet slide of oil as she poured a little more into his hair. "I just want it to feel right. And it won't feel right if you pressure me to get it done on a schedule."

Her hands stilled. "This was _your_ idea. _You_ wanted this."

A short, harsh laugh burst out of him. "Now who's transparent?"

"Fine. I want it too. I can't help it; I love her. She fits into this family. And I just don't see the point of waiting if it's something you want." She scraped a huge chunk of paint off a tuft of hair and dropped it in front of him on the table. "That girl's going to need to cut off the bottom two inches of her hair. And if you asked her, she'd probably do it all over again. She'll say yes. Just do it."

"I don't get it," he said crankily. "You don't even believe in marriage. What happened to 'it's just a piece of paper'?"

Sarah mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"I said…" He could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "That I was wrong."

He stuck his hand in his pants pocket and fished out his phone; he monkeyed with the video function and then held it up, camera facing her. "Can you repeat that? I'd like to get it on the record."

She jerked the comb through his hair and he yelped.

"I'm allowed to be wrong, you know."

"Yeah. I just never thought I'd hear you admit it."

She worked on him quietly for another minute or so and then Sam drummed his fingers on the table. "So, what part were you wrong about, exactly?"

Sarah took a few seconds, and then she spoke quietly. But her voice didn't waver in the slightest. "I guess, when I said it wouldn't change things. It does. It feels different."

"Different how?"

She shrugged. "I don't know exactly. But with the two of us and Jake…and now this baby… It just feels like I'm finished. You know? Like it all fits together in a way I didn't expect." She ran the comb through his hair from hairline to nape, this time feeling barely a catch. "That girl in there?" she said quietly. "She wants to spend the rest of her life with you. Maybe she hasn't said it in so many words, but she does. Don't make her wait for that feeling."

Cooper stuck his head around the corner. "Hey, Sarah. You about done? He's gonna be out in like two minutes." He yawned. "And I think I've got maybe ten left in me."

Sam raised his eyebrows. "You realize it's only a little after nine, right?"

"Yeah, well, we're old now," Sarah explained. "Just wait. The day will catch up with you." She stepped around in front of him and ran her fingers through his hair, picking at a bit of dried green near his ear with her nails. He winced as she yanked at it. "I'll be right in," she tossed over her shoulder.

Sam bobbed his eyebrows at his brother-in-law and watched Cooper unfold his lanky frame from around the door frame and went back to the bedroom. Sarah gave Sam a small smile and then kissed the tips of her fingers. She pressed them to the top of his head. "Maybe you should just wait until you're someplace quiet and alone, and then you should just talk to her about it."

"I almost did tonight," Sam admitted. "But your husband sort of ruined the mood."

She smirked. "That doesn't sound like him," she murmured. "Usually he's pretty good at turning on the romance."

"Ugh. Can you just _not_?"

"Sorry." She held back a grin as she brushed the chunks of greasy, dried pant from his shoulders. "Besides, the doctor says we have to wait six weeks."

"Come on."

She chuckled. "Okay. Sorry. For real this time."

He took a deep breath as she grabbed the oil and tucked it back into the cupboard and turned to face him. Then he nodded. "Okay. I'm gonna do it. But it's not going to be a family discussion. It's just going to be her and me. No proposal around the tree, no bended knee. That's not _us_. We're not those people."

"That sounds reasonable." She tossed the comb into the sink and started walking past him. As she hit the doorway, she glanced back. "Make sure you wash your hair really good, okay? I don't want grease stains on the sheets."

* * *

><p>By the time he got the oil washed out of his hair, and the dried paint mostly scrubbed off his skin, it was late. Sarah and Cooper had gone to bed, the house was dark. He walked into the living room and froze. Andy was digging through his duffel.<p>

"What're you doing?"

She jumped in surprise. "You scared the hell out of me," she said with a laugh, eyebrows raised as high as they'd go. And then she turned back to the bag. "I can't find my little bag, with my makeup and my lotion. I think Sarah might have thrown it in with your stuff when she was cleaning." Sam looked around the room. Everything was neatly pushed into the edges, leaving space for movement. All of their belongings had been stacked neatly near the mantle. She'd apparently gotten bored while everyone was out running around.

"Here." He stepped up next to her and kind of…nudged her out of the way. It was more of a hip check actually, and she sort of bounced into the bed.

"Something in there I'm not supposed to see?" she asked with an irritated smile.

"It's Christmas, McNally. What do you think?" he said, grinning.

She gave him a wide smile and crawled across the bed, shoving her legs down under the covers. As he turned to face away, shifting things around inside his bag, she caught a look at his back and burst into laughter. He shot a curious look over his shoulder as he pulled her makeup bag out of the end pocket and tossed it back at her.

"What's so funny?"

She caught it and pulled the lotion out. "You didn't really get all the paint off."

He frowned and walked over to the picture window, facing away from it as he tried to catch a glimpse over his shoulder at the reflection. Sure enough, Andy's name was still written, large as life, across the widest part of his shoulders. He looked at her sheepishly, hand scrubbing over his head. "Maybe you should get in with me next time and make sure I get it off?"

She smirked and started smoothing lotion over her leg. "Get what off, exactly?"

"God, you're funny." He rolled his eyes and climbed over her, getting down under the covers. He glanced at her as she leaned over, still rubbing the lotion into her skin. "You've still got some on you too. Right here." He rubbed a fingertip behind the shell of her ear and she squirmed, pulling away.

"My skin hurts." Sam knew he still had a few streaks left on his legs, possibly a couple of smudges on his arms, and of course, his back. But she looked clean, skin fresh and still pink; well-scrubbed. He took the bottle away from her and tossed it onto the floor.

"Come here." He pulled her down into the bed, pulled the blanket up to her shoulder and put his hand on her hip, stroking gently. She relaxed against him and reached back, pulling his arm over her until he was flush up against her back. He nosed into the hair at the back of her neck and he put his mouth on a bare patch of skin at her shoulder. "Does it hurt here?" She shook her head and he tightened his arm around her. He moved to her neck. "What about here?" Again, the head shake along with a little hum. He propped himself up on an elbow and reached up, tipping her face toward him.

As he kissed her, she turned over onto her back and he sank into her, pressing her into the mattress. He settled a thigh between her legs and pulled back, sliding his hand into her hair. He tried to hold back the grin as she winced, feeling his fingers against her tender scalp, but the memory of the previous hours was too strong.

"Sorry about your hair." His fingers gently smoothed over it, touch infinitely light, and she relaxed again, smiling guiltily.

"I think this one was probably my fault."

She tipped her chin up, yawning, and he saw that below her jawbone, under her ear, there was a small purple thumbprint. For some stupid reason, the sight of it made his heart swell, and he pressed his thumb against it, smiling as the slight pressure in that place made her raise her mouth to his. He dropped a kiss onto her lips, nibbling at the lower one gently. She leaned closer and he rolled, gathering her to his side.

He lay back on the pillow and she tucked her face into that spot between his shoulder and his neck and slipped her arm around him, holding him tightly.

"What was that whole thing in the kitchen?" he asked, suddenly remembering the weird communication that had passed between Sarah and Cooper and then Sarah and Andy.

She laid a quiet kiss on his neck. "Jake's just feeling a little left out. With the baby and everything."

Sam snorted. "Well, after he sees the haul he made this year, I really doubt that'll be an issue." He yawned.

Andy reached over him and grabbed the chain on the lamp and tugged it, cloaking them in darkness. Then Andy lay back down, and lifted a knee, curling it over him, settling into one of her favorite spots. She was pressed against his side, and he thought he maybe had another three minutes before she was completely out. In truth, he was suddenly halfway there himself, bundled into bed, warm body alongside his.

And then he got another one of those urges. One of those proposal urges. Even after talking to Sarah, he hadn't really been planning it. In fact, this was probably one of the last places he would have considered asking her. Originally, he'd wanted it to be somewhere private, somewhere special; not lying on the pull-out in his sister's living room, the family sleeping right around the corner. But now that the idea was there, it wasn't going away.

"I ah…" He glanced at his bag, at the small bulge in the end pocket, just a touch too far out of reach. He stretched his arm towards it, leaning ever so slightly. And then he heard it.

Carly was starting to wail in the other room and he pulled his arm back, let his head fall back against the pillow. He heard scuffling, softly spoken words as Sarah climbed out of bed to take care of the baby. The floor creaked in the hallway and as he looked over, he saw Cooper's large form walking through to the kitchen. He could hear the refrigerator opening and closing, the very slight squeak of a chair rocking in the next room.

"Yeah?" she asked, her voice thick with sleep. Andy's breathing was beginning to even out, her fingers relaxing against his chest and he blew out a frustrated breath.

He kissed her forehead, brushing the hair back from her face. "I guess I'll ask you tomorrow."

* * *

><p>The next morning, they woke early. Andy was jarred awake by the strong high wail coming from the bedroom and Sam was awoken by an elbow in his gut as Andy scrambled over him on her way to the bathroom.<p>

She peeked out the window on the way back and when she entered the living room, she went right for her duffel.

"What're you doing?" Sam mumbled as he rolled over and pressed his face into the pillow. Then he looked at his watch. "God, it's early."

"It's after seven. I think we should try to squeeze in a run before everyone gets up."

"You're kidding, right?" He didn't move. At all.

"We just started training again and I don't want to fall off the wagon already. C'mon, we'll just do five."

"I'm pretty sure if we worked at it, we could burn the same amount of calories and increase our endurance right here." He tried to sound lascivious, but it came out tired.

"Unless you feel like doing it with an audience, I think that option's out," Andy said quietly as Cooper walked through the hallway behind her. "C'mon. Get dressed. I'll grab us some water and a snack. Come on." She reached out and shook his shoulder. "Let's go running."

She walked away and started quickly pulling on her clothes. Andy pulled her shoes out of her duffel and then started digging through Sam's. She pulled out a pair of sweat pants, a few shirts and tossed them onto the bed. "I'll buy you breakfast after. You know. Like we used to."

Finally, Sam rolled over. "We run together all the time, Andy. And we grab breakfast every day."

"Yeah, but now we're _training_. And uh…maybe when we're done, we can do that thing we do sometimes," she suggested, giving him a wink.

* * *

><p>They managed to get out of the house with barely a word to anyone, swinging up into the truck and pulling out of the driveway quickly. The gravel roads around the house were covered in snow, but in town, they were clear, salted and sanded on a regular basis.<p>

Sam pulled the truck into a parking lot near a park and they got out and started walking briskly, doing a very easy warm up. They'd run in town a few times before, on other visits. Andy had been all over the place when she'd been training for the last marathon, and on more recent visits, they'd taken one morning each time to come and run on the trails. But this time, they ran on the roads, following familiar paths. It was warm out, the clouds low and heavy. Snow was coming.

After a few minutes, Andy slipped her ear buds in and started tapping at her GPS tracking watch, and then they sped up. They ran side by side at a comfortable pace. It was a training run, but it was a slow one, meant simply to get the heart pumping and their muscles engaged. They ran a couple of loops through the park and then turned right, circling around another mile or so before turning back towards the truck.

By the time Andy snapped the ear buds out and released the Velcro of her armband, she'd worked up a pretty decent sweat. She grabbed a water bottle from the cab of the truck and drank down half of it before passing it off to Sam, and then dropped into her stretches. She held onto the truck as she stretched her calves, closing her eyes as she felt the tight muscles loosen. Beside her, Sam was doing the same, and she listened to him, to the satisfied noises he made as he stretched his arms across his chest, loosening his shoulders.

She finished up and leaned back against the truck, shoulders and ribs pressed against the cold metal, hips slightly out, arched away. When he was done, he moved over and stood close to her, running his hands down her back and pulling her flush against him. She laughed throatily and twined her arms around him.

"I don't know why you always resist when this always ends the same way," she murmured as he pressed his mouth against her, sucking at a patch of salty skin at her neck. She tipped her head down, pressing her face against the damp shirt covering his shoulder and she inhaled, grinning as she felt a familiar heat spread through her. She pulled back a little, smirking. "Do you ever think about how gross this is? Sweaty and slimy, and all we can think of doing is-"

She broke off as he slanted his mouth across hers, pulling her hips tight against him. That noise he was making, sort of a growl, told her that he thought it was anything but gross. And his hands were sliding up under her shirt, letting the cold air move up her back, over her damp skin, making her shiver against him.

"We should…mmm…" His mouth was doing things, moving against the skin below her ear and for a second, she forgot where she was going with this. "We should go."

"Where?" he mumbled against her skin. Cars were passing them, not many, but enough so that Andy was hearing horns blaring every now and again, telling them to move it along, to get in the truck and take it somewhere else. Or maybe it was like passing a wedding, honking in congratulations. Either way, they needed to leave.

"Um…." And his fingers, skimming the waistband of her workout pants, sliding against the muscles of her stomach, they made her flip flop inside, made her press her hips harder against his. And it was possible she moved her hand down, ran her knuckles over him through his sweatpants. He grabbed her hand in his, pulling it away as he laughed softly in her ear.

"Think Sarah would care if we stayed in town tonight? Give Cooper his couch back?" Immediately, Andy started shaking her head, sucking in a quick breath as her earlobe was sucked between his lips. "Okay, then." He let go of her and stepped back. She let out a frustrated whine of protest and he gave her a wide grin as he backed around the truck. She slumped against the metal, trying to slow everything down, trying to get her breath back.

After a long moment, she shook her head and opened the door, scrambling up into the cab.

He was laughing, at the pink of her skin, and the slight way her hand shook as she shoved her iPod into the console.

"You're a goddamn tease," she snapped, buckling her belt across her hips.

He put the truck into gear and pulled out of the parking lot, possibly a little faster than normal. "Who's teasing?"

* * *

><p>Of course, check-in at any hotel wasn't until after noon, which meant that they still had a couple of hours to kill. So they ended up having breakfast after all. They tucked into a corner booth next to the too bright window in a restaurant across the street from the nearest hotel. They sat across from each other, because when they'd first slid in, they'd been pressed together, hip to hip, and Sam's hand had been having a hard time remembering they were in a public place.<p>

Even now, as he dug into his omelet, he was grinning; a full-on sex grin. And Andy couldn't help it. Every time she saw the arrogant twist of his lips, saw his eyes sweep over her, over her messy ponytail and sweat-stained shirt, her smile grew so large that she had to look away. And very soon, they were finished with their breakfast, and still had time to kill.

"What're we supposed to do now?" Andy asked quietly. Under the table, she propped her ankles up on his knee and his hands ran down over them, alternating firm and light pressure as he rubbed up her calves.

"I'm actually pretty tempted to take the truck out of town and just park somewhere," he said, staring at her for a long moment.

She stared back, pulling at her bottom lip with her teeth as she considered it. And then she shrugged. "It's not like it'd be the first time." She shifted her legs as his hands traveled up behind her knee, trailing feather light against the skin. "I hate it when you do that," she said on a breath

"Liar." He kept it up and she swallowed thickly, and then pulled her legs away, tucking them against the bench seat.

"We need to leave," she said, grabbing her jacket. "Now."

He chuckled, reached across the table for the bill. But he paused as a shadow fell over the table. He looked up, and a smile split his face.

"Kit."

"Hey, loser." Andy looked up and grinned. Sarah's best friend looked as great as always. Pixie-ish, with wispy blonde hair kept short, and brown eyes that slanted just slightly, the whole package wrapped up in a light blue wool coat.

"Should've known we couldn't get through one visit without being graced with your presence," Sam remarked with a sarcastic tone.

"You guys remember Kevin, right?" Andy glanced behind Kit, and smiled at the dark-haired man standing a few steps behind her. When she first met Kit, Sam had told her about her husband, how she'd lost him in a car accident, only months after their twins were born. And though she'd been casually dating over the last couple of years, everyone was still a little surprised when she brought Kevin to Thanksgiving in October. But he was kind, and polite, and great with her kids. And at the time, even though they were only six months in, they'd seemed very in love.

As Sam stood up to shake Kevin's hand, Andy looked at Kit. She didn't know her all that well, had only a few lengthy encounters at family functions, but there was something different. There was a sort of light behind her eyes that Andy didn't remember seeing. As Sam and Kevin moved away, presumably to pay their checks, Kit slid into the booth across from Andy and pulled off her gloves. And that's when Andy saw it.

Like Sarah, Kit was slim, except where Sarah had a strength to her, leanly muscled all over, Kit had always seemed a little more fragile, almost bird-like, with small light features. In accordance with that, her hands were small, finely boned with a tracing of tendons and veins, and long slim fingers topped with well-manicured nails. And circling the third finger on her left hand was a very impressive-looking diamond ring.

"Holy mother-" Andy said, reaching out to grab her hand.

Kit laughed, a light joyful sound and when Andy glanced up at her face, she was turned, staring across the restaurant at Kevin. "Yeah," she said when she turned back. "He asked me last night."

"Does Sarah know?"

"Uh, no." Kit's voice dropped a level in enthusiasm, and another in volume. "Listen," she said, conspiratorially. "Don't tell her. I want to see the look on her face. And I know she's probably got people all over her right now, so I wasn't planning on heading over there for a few days. I want to let her get settled or whatever."

Andy raised her eyebrows and gave her a wide smile. "Yeah, no problem. Wow. Congratulations." She couldn't stop staring at the ring. She tried, almost frantically, to remember what Kevin did for a living, but came up blank. Maybe something banking or real estate? She reached for her water glass and took the last few sips.

"Yeah, you too," Kit said. "I swear, if someone had told me five years ago that Sam would be settling down and getting married, I'd have never believed it."

Andy choked on a mouthful of water, and her eyebrows shot up and together in confusion. "Excuse me?" she asked around a sputtering cough.

Instantly, Kit's eyes flew to Andy's hand, to her bare hand. "Oh…uh…shit." She made a face and again, glanced over towards the men, this time panicking a little. "It's just that I thought I heard something about it over Thanksgiving. And I mean, I saw the book, so I just assumed…" Again, her eyes flew to Sam and Kevin. "Maybe he just…ah…"

"What book?" she asked automatically, barely even hearing her own words. Andy's heart was pounding fast and erratically, and she could hear it echoing through her head. Thanksgiving was two months past. She tried to think, tried to remember what had happened over Thanksgiving. They'd all gathered at Sarah's, they'd eaten, and then she and Sam…

It'd started with work. A half dozen patrol officers had been sent in to clear a house, and even though he'd told her to stay close, to stay with the group, she'd split off. She hadn't been by herself; she'd been partnered with Traci. But when they'd finished, he'd been furious. It'd been her fault, and she knew it. But he'd come down on her much harder than she'd anticipated; much harder than she thought she'd deserved. So, she'd yelled back. The issue hadn't been resolved before they'd headed down to St. Catharines for the holiday.

And because of that, they'd been on edge all weekend; snapping at each other over little things. Making pointed remarks around the very small, very inconsequential issues that had been grating at them. Like the way their closet was so full, and so cluttered, that Sam was literally pulling out dozens of items just to locate a shirt. And how he felt the need to clean up after her like she was a child, even though she was an adult, fully capable of picking up after herself; when she felt like it. That really pissed her off.

And then there was the matter of the bathroom. Every time he got into the shower, because there were literally a dozen bottles lining the wall, he'd knock a couple into the tub, causing them to land heavily on his toes. All of these were things that should have been dealt with months before, but months before, they'd still been deeply lost in that fog. The new relationship fog where everything was perfect, or nearly so, and those little things, they didn't really seem to bother them too much. And then, very abruptly, the honeymoon was over.

Anyway, after a full weekend of that, they'd gotten back into the truck, Monday after dinner, barely speaking to each other, desperate for a little breathing room. And then one of them had said something. Probably, it had been her. Something extremely out of line, and malicious about how he always had to be right, and how he always had to have it his way. Which of course was ridiculous, because he _was_ right a lot. And really, she _liked_ it when he was in charge; most of the time anyway. But that had started a screaming match that lasted a good ten minutes, and was finished off by another hour of silence. They'd returned to Toronto and Sam had headed into the bedroom and slammed the door, and Andy had pulled on her shoes and gone for a run.

It'd taken another couple of days before everything got smoothed out between them. They'd worked it out. All the bottles went into a basket between the toilet and the tub. The closet got cleaned out, clothes bagged and sent to Goodwill; Sam had gone to town installing an organizational system rife with wire baskets and multiple rods. And he'd stopped picking up after her; let her do it on her own time, even though it ate at him to see dirty dishes on the coffee table. And all the other things. They'd worked them out.

But it had been a bad fight, and the things they'd said hadn't been funny or easily forgotten. He'd made her cry, fat angry tears, and she'd ripped him apart, and they'd done it on purpose. But they'd apologized. Over and over again, in fact. And they'd made up; several times over the next few days. But even so, there was only one explanation Andy could come up with.

"Maybe he changed his mind," she said quietly.

"No!" Kit said emphatically, shaking her head. "He's probably just waiting until Christmas."

Andy sat back in the booth, crossing her arms over her chest as her eyes went to Sam across the room. He saw her looking and grinned at her, expression dimming only a little when she didn't smile back. She took a deep breath. "We're supposed to do Christmas with Sarah tonight. We've gotta go back tomorrow."

"Well, see?" Kit held her hands up and smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure it'll be tonight." Except, she didn't really sound like she believed it. "Look, maybe you should just ask him."

"Yeah," Andy laughed. "That wouldn't sound desperate at all."

"Well, maybe ask Sarah about it. She was there. And obviously, she knows him way better than I do, so…"

Andy suddenly went very still and raised a questioning eyebrow. And then after a long, uncomfortable moment, she nodded. Of course Sarah would know. "Yeah, maybe I will."

She fell silent as the men returned to the table. Sam held out his hand, and after a moment, Andy reached back, grabbed her hat and gloves, and then let him pull her up. The four of them walked out the door together, saying a brief goodbye as they split up in the parking lot. Andy couldn't meet Kit's eyes. Suddenly, she was feeling very unsure of herself, and she didn't want to see that giant rock on Kit's finger. She needed to talk to Sarah.

When he handed her up into the truck, and closed the door behind her, she faced forward, put her belt on and laid her head back against the seat. He got in next to her and reached over, grabbing her hand and bringing it to his lips. "So, are we taking a trip out of town?" he asked, teeth nipping at the tips of her fingers. She cringed a little; she'd somehow forgotten about _that_ plan.

She shook her head. "No. I got a text from Sarah while you were paying the check. She wants us back there to help." The lie flew out of her mouth so fast, so easily, she couldn't even believe it.

But he frowned. "Sarah has Cooper and Jake to help her."

She shrugged. "That's just what she said."

Sam let out a frustrated sigh, but kept ahold of her hand, lacing his fingers through hers as he pulled out of the parking lot. "She's always a little moody around the holidays," he muttered. "I swear, when we get to Vancouver, we're not answering any calls from her," he said emphatically, raising his eyebrows.

"You mean Hawaii, don't you?" Andy asked with a reluctant grin, still not quite willing to give up her first choice, even if she _was_ slightly upset.

He laughed. "So the Chicago Marathon's out then?"

She propped her feet up on the dash. "I just think if we're going to go on vacation, we should _**really **__go on vacation,_ you know? Like all-inclusive, new time zone, wearing a bikini eight hours a day vacation."

The corner of his mouth curled up and he gave her a sidelong glance. "Now _that_ is an argument I can get behind. Feel free to wear a bikini eight hours a day any time you want." She rolled her eyes, but when he looked at her, she calmed a little, like she did every time. And it was the same look he always gave her; normal. So, everything was okay, really. She smiled, then turned away and looked out the window, returning the pressure of his hand. Everything would be sorted out once she talked to Sarah.

* * *

><p>They walked in the house and Sam took one look at his sister bent over the desk in the kitchen and rolled his eyes, striding back to the living room.<p>

"What the hell's his problem?" Sarah asked Andy as she stepped into the room.

She shrugged. "No idea. What's going on?"

Sarah turned and dropped a stack of take-out menus on the table. "Our fake Christmas dinner. We don't feel like cooking. Do you?" Andy shook her head. "Okay, so pick something. We'll eat whatever."

Andy picked through them, and then looked up. "How about something from a few places? Like a buffet?"

Sarah nodded. "Sounds good." She looked at her watch. "We usually do dinner and then presents, so obviously, the earlier we eat, the better," she said with a grin. "We like presents." Andy held out the three menus she'd chosen and Sarah took them. "I'll just go see what the guys want and we can order. Let's say dinner at three?" She rushed out of the room without waiting for an answer and Andy just sat there. She couldn't decide if she should ask now or later, after they'd done the whole Christmas thing.

In reality, it was probably the most un-Christmas-like Christmas Andy had ever been involved in, but somehow it worked for them. Clearly for the Laffertys, the holiday was more about everyone getting together than any real long-standing tradition, and bringing up the marriage thing might put a strain on all that.

So… She exhaled loudly and stood. So, she'd wait. She'd just suck it up and wait until the festivities were over. If nothing concrete came from it, she'd talk to Sarah. No need to screw up everyone's day.

She was about to walk out of the room when she heard vibrating. She turned to the desk and scanned the surface until her eyes came to rest on Sarah's cell phone. Kit's picture was brightly lit on the screen; probably calling to warn Sarah about her slip. Andy reached out and pushed "Ignore." Sarah was one of the best liars Andy had ever met. The only way she'd really know the truth is if she caught her off guard. She hit one of the buttons on the phone, turning it from vibrate to silent, and then tucked it into the drawer. With no heads up from Kit, Andy would have the element of surprise.

* * *

><p>When she entered the living room, Sarah was swiveling a little in Cooper's recliner, watching while Jake and his dad battled it out on the Xbox. On the couch, Sam had Carly lying on her back on his thighs, and Andy sat down next to him, pulling her legs up underneath her. He looked over.<p>

"Do you want her?"

Andy smiled and held out her hands. "Always." As she put Carly in the crook of her elbow, she leaned back into Sam's arm stretched along the back of the couch. He rubbed his hand over her shoulder and pulled her in, settling her against his side. And then he reached over, ran his other hand over the top of the baby's head. Andy smiled, feeling something heavy move through her chest, finding it suddenly a little hard to breathe as she turned her head and looked at him. In that moment, his eyes shifted from Carly to Andy and there was something in his expression…. _ Something_ _new_. He reached up and ran his hand around to the back of her head, pulling her face to his. He dropped a couple light kisses onto her lips, smiling back at her when she let out a somewhat surprised laugh; hand up against his face.

It had to be Christmas; had to be today. He wouldn't be looking at her like that if he wasn't planning to ask her. Her eyes skittered over to Sarah who was watching them, camera in her hands, a curious expression on her face.

"Let's bump up dinner." Everyone's eyes shot to Andy. She shrugged and looked at Sam again. "And the presents. And then maybe we could go to that place we were talking about?" she finished with a conspiratory whisper.

He raised his eyebrows at her and then nodded. "Yeah, sure," he said, his voice a little husky. "Sounds good." He kept his eyes on her but held out his hand to Sarah. "Give 'em here." Andy watched as she passed the menus to Cooper and he handed them to Sam. And then Sam looked away from Andy, pulled out his phone, and leaned into the couch, towing her back up against him.

Quickly, he ran through each of the numbers, ordering what seemed like way too much food for the five of them. Sarah was still taking pictures. She'd finally stopped watching Sam and Andy, and had turned her attention to her husband and step-son, but every now and again, her eyes would float over to the sofa. Finally, Andy stood, holding a sleeping Carly up to her shoulder.

"You mind if I go put her down?"

Sarah raised her eyebrows, but shook her head. "Not at all."

"I think I'll maybe clean up a little after that." She ran her hand over her limp ponytail. "Still haven't showered." The glance she threw over her shoulder to Sam was an attempt at subtlety. A failed attempt.

Cooper took a look at her and his eyes shot over to Sarah. "I guess Jake and I will uh, run into town to pick up dinner."

"Daaaad," Jake whined as he continued to click away at his controller. Cooper reached over and snagged it out of his hands.

"Sorry, buddy. We'll be back soon." As he said the last word, he shot a reproachful look at Sam, who looked like he couldn't care less about Cooper's opinions at the moment. His eyes were locked onto Andy, watching her as she walked slowly out of the room.

And so after she'd made her way back to the bedroom, laid Carly carefully in the bassinette and made her way quietly back to the bathroom, she wasn't surprised to see Sam waiting for her, testing the water with one hand, while toeing off his running shoes.

"You realize that they know we're in here, right?" he clarified with a laugh, eyes on her as she whipped off her shirt.

"You realize I don't really care, right?" The grin she gave him was challenging, heated. And when they'd both dropped their last stitch of clothing to the floor, she pushed up against him, pulling the curtain out of the way as they stumbled and laughed their way into the tub, wrenching it closed behind them.

* * *

><p>When they emerged, Sam flipped down the lid and sat on the toilet, towel wrapped around his waist as he watched Andy struggle to comb through her hair. "I have a confession to make."<p>

Her eyes moved to his as she dragged the comb down through the ends of her hair. "Oh yeah?" she asked casually, all the time feeling her heart start to race.

He laced his fingers behind his head, leaning back against the toilet tank. "I know we made a deal, but I sort of got you something." She bit her lip and looked down as she felt the smile spread across her face. "Don't get too excited," he warned. "It's not a big thing."

She shook her head, swallowing the grin. "Not getting excited. But how not big are we talking?"

He laughed. "It's just something I bought before we decided to take the trip."

She ran her toothbrush under the sink and then loaded it up and stuck it in her mouth. "Is it something I can wear?" she asked around it.

Sam raised an eyebrow in mock consideration. "It is."

"Um…" Andy ran it quickly over her teeth, brushing hard for a few moments. "Is it expensive?"

He snorted. "Wasn't cheap, that's for sure."

She rinsed her mouth, then turned to him and made a face. "I didn't get you anything. Other than the underwear, I mean." He reached for her, got a hand around the curve of her thigh and pulled, getting her between his knees.

Her hands fell to his head, ran through his hair as he pressed his face to her middle, breath hot against her. "I guess you'll just have to make it up to me tonight." His hands ran up under her towel, over the backs of her thighs and as they rose higher, she leaned into him. "Or now would work," he laughed. He was in the process of removing the terrycloth, working out the knot between her breasts when Sarah rapped briskly at the door.

"Play time's over, children. Food'll be here in five minutes." She paused and then she hit her knuckles against the door again. "And for future reference, we don't rent rooms by the hour."

Andy rolled her eyes as Sam's hands fell away. "She sounds pissed. And she has like the worst timing in the world," she murmured before she leaned down and pressed a noisy kiss against his face.

"Screw her," he muttered as he caught her mouth one last time.

* * *

><p>Quickly, they dressed and by the time they got out to the living room with wet hair and bare feet, Cooper and Jake were walking in the door, heavily laden with bags of takeout.<p>

Sarah hadn't been kidding when she'd said they liked presents. Dinner took less than fifteen minutes. In fact, Andy blew through a plate of honey chicken, lamb curry and a healthy scoop of ziti in less time than it took to unpack the bags. On the couch next to her, Jake was doing the same, shoveling food into his mouth, eyes constantly flickering back to the Christmas tree and the presents stacked underneath. Sarah had switched off the Xbox and turned on the stereo; some weird, heavy-sounding alternative music was playing. Not exactly the normal Christmas fare. Cooper walked in, glanced at his wife out of the corner of his eye and grabbed the remote from her, switching it to something more appropriate and light.

After the food had all been eaten and the leftovers safely stowed in the refrigerator, they all sat down on the floor, and Jake passed out the presents. They took turns, going around the circle, each person opening something until the stash of gifts was depleted. By the time they were done, the adults all had a small stack in front of them. While they'd been conservative with each other, they'd gone completely overboard on Jake. He had a massive pile stacked around him consisting of: hockey equipment, more video games, a few books and DVD's, a new iPod, some clothes (which had been stealthily shoved aside) and a very expensive remote control helicopter that Sam had picked up the week before.

Sarah and Cooper had worked something out between them, buying each other only a few small things: a couple of books, a new set of imported paintbrushes Sarah had been eyeing for a few months. Sarah also gave Cooper a large picture frame with room for three prints. Two of the places were already filled; one with a picture of him with Jake as a small child, cradled against his chest as they both slept on the sofa, and another with the three of them sitting on the dock with their legs hanging over the edge, taken the previous summer. The empty spot was obviously for a new picture of Cooper and his daughter.

It was this gift more than anything that illustrated the affection between them. It was clearly Cooper's favorite. He tucked it safely against the wall so it wouldn't get damaged in the activity of the day, and then he put his arm around Sarah and hauled her up against him, smiling down at her as she leaned her head into his shoulder. His hand splayed across the point of her hip and she sort of curled into him, suddenly looking very small against his large frame. Andy looked down at Sam's fingers as they laced through hers, and then up at his face, unable to contain her smile. She dragged his hand into her lap and held onto it tightly as she started stacking her small pile of gifts.

Sarah and Cooper had given each of them a $50 gift card to the running store, a large box with a complete set of dishes, handmade by Sarah and glazed with various shades of purple, red and orange. Cooper had bought Sam a new driver, which was sort of a joke, because Sam had bought the same thing for him. Sarah had also given Andy a delicate-looking cuff bracelet she'd made herself out of strips of silver and some peridot beads.

In return, Andy and Sam bought the Lafferty family three hockey tickets for a game scheduled in January, complete with a promise to babysit Carly. Also, they'd picked up some CD's and $50 bottle of scotch for Sarah, now that she was no longer pregnant. It would still be a while before she could enjoy it, but as Sam explained, it was the thought that counted.

As they started clearing the paper and boxes away, Andy ran her fingers over her new bracelet, frowning as she realized that it was the only piece of jewelry she'd received. Sam was talking animatedly to Cooper about their drivers, already pulling them out of the boxes to check them out. Sarah was slowly picking through the dozen or so CD's Andy had picked out at the secondhand music store; checking out liner notes and song lists.

In truth, any other year, it would have been great, but she'd been expecting something a little different and when Sam took her hand again and gave it a squeeze, she gave him her best smile, although she wasn't really feeling it. But her head snapped to the side when Jake suddenly said, "Hey." He was digging around under the tree. "There's two more."

He came out with a large, heavy, flat package and another, much smaller; a cube that almost fit into the palm of his hand.

"The big one's Andy's," Sarah said distractedly, as she looked back down at the CDs.

"So's the little one," Sam said with a small smile. Andy didn't miss the look of pleased surprise that came over Sarah's face as she looked up at her brother.

Jake passed them over to Andy and looked on in interest as she grabbed them both and held them on her lap. She set the small one off to the side, grinning wide as she slid her fingers along the large flat one, slitting tape and tearing the paper away.

"Wait!" Andy's eyes shifted quickly to Sarah whose eyes were suddenly as big as saucers and looking quickly back and forth between Sam and Andy. After a second, she leaned forward, as if she were going to rip it from her hands. But Andy held it closer, out of Sarah's reach and looked down at it.

"Oh my God," she said quietly. She looked up, her eyes huge with disbelief. "Sarah…" Then she looked back down. She was holding Sarah's book. The one she'd started putting together the past summer. From the beginning, she'd had problems with it; with organizing the pictures, with matching the descriptions, the prose chosen to face each picture. When they were supposed to publish it in September, they'd decided they needed even more pictures, and Sarah, already six months pregnant had trucked all over Toronto and St. Catharines taking more shots.

On the cover, under the words "Girls Play Hard," was a picture of Andy. Sarah had taken this picture after one of her training runs. Andy was dropped into a crouch, her right leg thrust out to the side in a deep stretch. Her ponytail was hanging down low over one shoulder, her hands were braced against the grass, holding her body up, and she was staring directly out at the camera. Andy barely even remembered Sarah being there that day, couldn't remember her taking the picture at all, but obviously, she'd gotten close. In fact, she'd probably taken dozens of shots just to get this one.

Andy blinked away the wetness in her eyes and started flipping through the book. It was large, hardcover and heavy, with stiff pages and an inch-thick spine. Inside, there were other pictures. All sorts of black and whites of girls playing basketball down at the rec center, of the girl from down the road on a skateboard, pads and helmet solidly in place, some from the marathon she'd run last May, and others, of women doing all different sorts of sports, doing all sorts of different activities. Andy couldn't stop paging through it, couldn't stop flipping pages until she finally came to the front, to the table of contents and the dedication page. But when she started reading that paragraph, Sarah cleared her throat, and after a brief moment, the book was snatched out of her hand before she had a chance to finish.

"What're you doing?" she asked as Sam passed the book back to Sarah, who clutched it against her chest.

She shrugged. "I forgot…ah.." Her eyes went to Sam for an instant and then back to Andy. "I forgot to sign it for you. I'll let you look at it when I'm done." She jerked her head to the small box sitting near Andy's foot. "Maybe you should just open the last one," she said with an excited smile. "Don't worry about this one yet."

Andy looked down and picked it up, sufficiently distracted for the moment. Her eyes rose then to Sam's. He was suddenly looking very tense and he and Sarah were making some sort of silent conversation, punctuated by raised eyebrows and widened eyes. Andy nudged Sam with her foot and his eyes swung back to her. And his face, although still unbelievably tense, softened into a distracted smile.

"This is the one you were talking about?" Andy asked, holding up the cube.

"Uh, yeah." He said, nodding. "But don't get too excited. I didn't get a book published or anything." Again, he glared at Sarah and Andy frowned as the two of them started making faces at each other again.

Suddenly, the present in her hand seemed far too light to be what she'd been hoping. The container was far too pliable. Her thumb pressed against it, and it gave a little. She held her breath anyway and tore away the paper to reveal a flimsy plastic box holding a pair of red, black and silver ear buds.

Andy just held the box in her hand, trying to slow her heart, trying to hold the smile on her face so he wouldn't see her disappointment.

"What the hell is that?" Sarah asked shrilly, face screwed into a confused expression. "Ow!" she yelped as Cooper dug his elbow into her ribs and gave her a look.

Sam raised his eyebrows at his sister. "I said it wasn't a big deal," he said with an irritated smile.

"Yeah, but…" Sarah snorted. "Headphones? Seriously?"

"Hey! These are high tech," he shot back defensively. "They're made for runners; sweat proof and everything. It's not like they're some $5 special from Wal-Mart or something."

"It's fine," Andy said loudly as Sarah raised her voice to counter. Instantly, Sam's eyes moved back to her. "I love them. Really." She nodded to reinforce her statement and then looked at Sarah. "Really, we weren't even supposed to buy each other anything. So these are…" She held them up and nodded again. "These are great," she finished in what she hoped was a convincing voice.

Sam gestured with one hand towards Andy while shooting an annoyed smug look at Sarah. Sarah rolled her eyes and shook her head, obviously frustrated. She got to her feet and stormed off to the kitchen, Andy's book held tightly to her chest.

Cooper looked around the circle, first at Jake and then at Sam and Andy before he bobbed his eyebrows and drew his lips together into a silent whistle. Then he rose to his feet and followed his wife into the kitchen.

"Sorry about that," Sam muttered as he started packing more paper into the empty boxes, readying it for the trash. "I told you. She gets moody during the holidays."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Andy said as she leaned over to kiss him. "But I think I'll just go check on her anyway. Alright?" He nodded and slid over to Jake who'd been putting batteries into the controller for his helicopter, watching the whole interaction with a furrowed brow.

* * *

><p>Andy got to her feet and with the ear buds still clutched tightly in her hand, she entered the kitchen. Sarah and Cooper were standing chest to chest in the corner near the sink. Sarah's head was tipped back so she could look him in the eye, his was tipped forward, and they were whispering loudly together. She was gesturing wildly with both hands, her back to Andy.<p>

Cooper saw her immediately though, and quickly silenced his wife with a single word. She spun around and instantly, a hospitable smile plastered itself across her face.

"Andy. What can I do for you?" She asked it like she was talking to someone in line at the grocery store; polite, but cold.

"Is everything okay?" Andy asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah. Everything's great."

Andy paused. "I'm only asking because things kind of got a little intense in there…"

"Yeah, well…ah…hormones." Sarah shrugged. "Apparently, they don't just disappear after you give birth. Who knew?" She didn't say anything else and in fact, looked kind of like she wanted Andy leave so she could continue to talk to Cooper in privacy.

Andy didn't leave. Instead, she stepped closer, and leaned up against the table and just stared at Sarah. "Can I ask you something?"

Sarah rolled her eyes impatiently. "Yeah. Knock yourself out." Andy's eyebrows hit her hairline and Cooper's hand settled on Sarah's shoulder and he squeezed gently. A warning. Sarah closed her eyes briefly, and then opened them again, flashing an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I'm a little tense, I guess. Not your fault."

Andy crossed her arms. "It's okay. Look, I uh..." She studied Sarah's face, hoping to get a baseline before she really started in on her. "I ran into Kit today and she said something and I don't really know what to think about it."

Sarah shrugged. "What'd she say?"

Andy tipped her head back a little and took a breath before she spoke. "She said that over Thanksgiving, Sam talked about proposing." Again, she watched her carefully, searching for anything. A flicker of recognition, any indication at all that she'd heard what Andy'd said, but she was stone still. A perfect statue. "Did he ever say anything like that to you?"

Slowly, Sarah shook her head, squinting a little like she was trying to remember. "Nope. Not to me."

Andy stared at her for a long moment and then, again, stepped closer, putting her hands on her hips. "You'd lie for him." Sarah said nothing, but the proud jut of her chin told Andy she was spot on. "So maybe if he _had_ said something and then changed his mind… You know, decided he didn't actually _want _to marry me, you'd lie for him. Keep his secret."

"Andy," she said, her face suddenly soft with sympathy. "That's not what's going on here, I swear."

"Then what is it?"

Sarah licked her lips and glanced uncomfortably at Cooper who still had his hand on Sarah's shoulder. He kept his eyes on hers and gave his head an almost imperceptible shake. Then she took a deep breath and turned back. "You're going to have to ask Sam."

"What about you?" Andy asked suddenly, looking slyly at Cooper. "You're a terrible liar. Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

He froze and in anticipation of the lie, a deep red twinge started creeping up over the collar of his shirt. He pressed his lips together in frustration and shook his head again.

"Andy, it's not my place."

Andy took two more steps forward, staring him right in the eye. "Cooper," she said. "You saw me naked yesterday. I think you owe me." The blush rose to the roots of his hair and he averted his eyes. Sarah glanced back at him and then threw a glare at Andy.

"Leave him alone. He doesn't have anything to do with this." Andy gave her a hard stare and then, as she took a deep breath, she lifted her eyes guiltily to Cooper

"Sorry," she mumbled with a shrug. "This isn't your problem. Neither of you." She backed away a few steps and then, feeling incredibly embarrassed, she turned on her heel, ready to stride out of the room.

But Sam stopped her. He was just walking in when she hit the doorway and he put his hands out, grasping her upper arms. "Whoa. Where's the fire?" His eyes shot curiously to the end of the room, to his sister and then back to Andy. "Are you guys holding some sort of secret meeting, or something?" She shook her head quickly, too quickly and as he moved his gaze from her to Sarah, any real trace of humor faded from his face and he pulled Andy a little closer. "What's going on?"

Andy looked at him, and suddenly, all the frustration and fire came flooding back. She stepped back, out of his grasp and narrowed her eyes at him. "Is there anything you think I need to know?"

He raised an eyebrow, clearly lost. "Uh, not that I know of…" He trailed off and as Andy watched, his eyes went over her shoulder to Sarah. After half a beat, Andy thrust herself into his eye line.

"Oh no." She shook her head. "Don't even think you're going to pull that silent sibling communication thing on me."

"I don't even know what's going on here," Sam argued, his volume increasing just a slight amount. Andy pursed her lips, steadying herself, and then flattened her hands against his chest and pushed him out of the room. When he was backed into the entryway, she snagged his coat off the hook and shoved it at him and then pulled hers down and around herself. She stepped into her shoes, then, threw open the storm door and stomped out into the yard, leaving him with nothing to do but follow after her.

* * *

><p>He caught up to her halfway to the truck. It was still pretty warm out for late afternoon. The sun was sinking at a steady pace, and the shadows were starting to gather over the snow. The game had flattened most of it down, leaving just an icy path below their feet, and two trampled blankets of snow covering the yard on either side, neither one more than a few inches thick. The wind was starting to pick up; the clouds were beginning to gather. The storm Andy had predicted earlier in the day was well on its way. And when Sam grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back, spinning her roughly, she took in a deep breath, feeling the icy air sting and burn the back of her throat as she opened it to yell.<p>

"What the hell is your problem?" he snapped, staring at her like she was a lunatic. "Did she _say_ something to you?"

"What? Fighting over the holidays seems to be our thing," she replied condescendingly.

"It's not a holiday. And what do you mean 'our thing'?"

"You know what I mean. Thanksgiving."

"What about it? We fought." He shrugged. "So what? We fight all the time."

"The big deal is that it's the only reason I can come up with."

"The only reason? The only reason for what?" He was looking at her like she was crazy, which she hated. And it made her just a little crazier.

"For why you don't want to marry me!"

"What?" He practically yelled it, in total disbelief, hands up and sliding through his hair, like he'd had absolutely no idea where she'd been headed with this. Which, if Andy had to admit it, he probably hadn't.

"Kit said you were talking about it two months ago, so I mean… Obviously," she said, wide, hands moving all over the place. "That _has_ to be it. Because the only other reason I can think of is that she had some freak hallucination and you just _never_ wanted to marry me." Her voice got a little quiet at the end, like she was just now realizing what that meant.

"Andy…" His voice was suddenly patient, suddenly sympathetic and that helped; it kept her angry. "It's okay."

"No! It's _not_ okay. I mean, there has to be some reason, right? So, why don't you want to marry me? Is it just marriage in general or is it me? Am I like, unmarriable or something? Is this about my cooking?" Yes, she knew that was possibly the dumbest thing to come out of her mouth yet.

And all of a sudden, he was grinning, that obnoxious toothy grin, dimples popping out all over the place. And he stuck his hand into his pocket, then dragged it out again, along with something else. A small little box, gray, soft-looking, just the right size for…

"Would I have been carrying this thing around for two months if I didn't want to marry you?" he asked, taking a step towards her.

She felt every muscle in her body stiffen and her eyes swung back up to his, humiliation starting to flood her face. "Maybe," she argued, just for the sake of arguing, and she shrugged. "I mean, if you actually _wanted_ to marry me, it'd _probably_ be on my finger."

He rolled his eyes; and then he frowned a little. "Wait, probably?"

She crossed her arms defensively; clearly feeling a little embarrassed. Possibly feeling a little stupid. "Well, you know. If I said 'yes'."

"_If_ you said 'yes'? Five seconds ago you were practically _begging_ me to marry you."

"Yeah, well, that was when I thought you didn't want to. Now that I know you do…" She looked him up and down, and then shrugged again. "Eh."

He put his hands on his hips, ring box wedged between two fingers, and he stared at her, shaking his head in amazement. "You're a pain in the ass, you know that?"

"Takes one to know one." Inwardly, she winced. Probably the best way to get a guy to propose was to not act like a four year old.

"I mean, really." His eyes widened. "You're lucky I love you so much."

"_I'm_ lucky?" She barked out a laugh.

He nodded, eyebrows up to his hairline. "Uh, yeah."

"Why's that?"

He smirked. "You think any other guy would put up with this shit?" She made a face and then reached out and shoved him, hard. His feet slid a little on the icy path and he reached out, grabbing her, holding her to him as he regained his balance.

But after he'd found his footing, Sam didn't let go. His arm wound around her waist, pulling her up against him, grinning down at her as her hand came to rest against his chest, nails scratching lightly over the zipper of his coat.

"So, um…" She'd gone quiet all of a sudden, and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, waiting. "So, can I see it?"

He barked out a laugh. "You think I'm gonna give it to you now? After all that?" He smirked. "Think again, sweetheart."

Her mouth dropped open and then a sly smile appeared. "But you bought it for _me_. I should at least get a look at it before I turn you down." She quirked an eyebrow.

"Go ahead. Keep digging that hole." He grinned at her, shaking his head in mild amazement. "You're gonna have to do some pretty smooth talking if you ever want to get your hands on this thing." He held the box up in front of her face, swinging his hand away when she reached up to snatch it.

She narrowed her eyes, knowing a challenge when she heard one. "We both know that if we were at home, I'd have that ring in five minutes flat."

He shoved the ring back into his coat pocket. "Well, we're not at home," he murmured as he flipped the buttons open on her coat. He put his hands inside, around the curve of her waist, thumbs brushing against the bare skin under her shirt. At the slightest touch, her breath came a little shallower, and her eyes darkened, just a tiny bit. "Better start talking."

"You know," she started, leaning back a little, looking him up and down. "I think _you're_ the lucky one."

"If this is you sweet-talking me, you should know, you're doing it wrong."

"No seriously," she said, her tone suddenly suspiciously sedate. "You're moody, and you're cocky, and God knows you're like the slowest runner on the planet."

"McNally…" His eyes were narrowed, his voice a little husky with warning as he pulled her a little closer.

"But for some reason," she rolled her eyes and grinned. "For some reason, I love you anyway. More than I ever thought I could," she said, serious in an instant. She leaned close then, pressed her cold cheek against his as her fingers curled at the back of his neck and she pressed her lips to his ear. "And I want to marry you. I want to be your wife." There was a small tremor shaking her voice; the tiniest thing really, but he heard it. "So, are you gonna marry me, or what?" she whispered roughly, squealing a little when his grip on her tightened, and he grinned against her neck.

And then he was kissing her; his aim was a little off, but she didn't care because he was everywhere, hauling her up, pushing his body against hers, hands under her coat gripping at her waist, fingers at her lower back. And then they were falling. Andy didn't realize it until they hit the snow and their foreheads cracked together.

For a brief moment, she saw stars, and blinding white, and they tipped apart, groaning. She was on her knees, one on either side of him; both pressed their palms to their heads. And then as the pain cleared, he leaned up on his elbows, and she bent down again, slower this time, running her mouth over his. After a moment, she pulled back and sat on his stomach, hands braced on his chest as she stared down and smiled.

"So, if you didn't change your mind, then what were you waiting for?" she asked, a little quiet. Around them, he could hear the wind blowing gently, noise from inside the house leaking out, echoes from other families across the icy lake. And he could hear her breathing, kind of fast and shallow, like it changed every time things started to get a little out of hand between them.

He ran his hands up her thighs slowly, calming her just a little. "I don't know. Part of it I guess was that I wanted it to be special. You know. Memorable."

Andy rolled her eyes. "Well, mission accomplished. Why else?"

"I guess I was a little afraid you'd say no."

She rolled her eyes and clenched her fingers in the stiff fabric of his coat. "Remember when we first got together," she began quietly. "And you said you'd take me any way you could get me?"

He smiled back at her. "Yeah. But I'm kind of surprised _you_ do." She gave him a light thump with her fist.

"Did you mean it?"

"Obviously," he said with a laugh.

"Well," she shrugged. "Me too. Except I don't want you _any_ way. I want you _every_ way." She gave him sheepish smile. "We could do this, what we're doing now; living together, just kind of going slow. Or we can pick it up a little. Move forward." He just looked up at her, blinking a little as the wind picked up around them. "What Sarah and Cooper have?" Andy said quietly. "I want that for us. Obviously, it hasn't been as long. But I'm sure about this. About you."

"You know we're still going to scream at each other, right?" he asked carefully, checking her face for a reaction. "I mean, we're talking knock-down, drag-outs. _And_ my sister. Forty plus years of the same shit."

She bent down and ran her lips over his. "I like your sister," she said against his mouth. "And more of the same shit also means more holidays, and make-ups and babies. All very good things."

"Babies, huh?" he asked. "You wanna have my babies, McNally?" He grinned at the way she froze on top of him, stiffening throughout her thighs, hips and spine. He gave her thighs a squeeze.

"Well, yeah. But later," she finally relented. "Probably not right away."

"Probably not," he agreed, nodding and swallowing a smile. "But uh…just out of curiosity. How many babies?"

She gave him a look. "Ask me after the first one," she said with a laugh.

He rolled her then, grinning as she gasped at the shock of snow against her neck. He leaned down, one thigh between hers, weight on his forearms, and he got his hands up to her face, fingers digging into the mess of her hair. As he felt the snow melt into the leg of his jeans, she tipped her face up and squinted, raising a single eyebrow.

"So…?" she said quietly, voice lilting a little.

He brushed the hair back from her face, looked at it all spread out, dark against the white of the snow beneath her and he flashed his dimples, giving her a nod. "So, I guess we're getting married."

He pressed his mouth to hers for a few seconds and then pulled back. Andy licked her lips. "We're getting married," she repeated, face splitting in a grin.

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! right? So, the plan original plan was to end this with no proposal at all. Bc I like to make you all squirm a little. But I was not-so-gently convinced that it would be a wrong move. **

**Also, sorry to burst the bubble. Andy's not pregnant. This story was more warming her up to the possibility. Just in case I have one more sequel in me ;)**

**Thanks again for reading and all the alerts. I appreciate them, and your reviews :)**


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